Guardians of the Light
by GalaxyCatNoir
Summary: After the fight with Volpina, life has returned to normal for Marinette and Adrien. Well, as normal as it could be for Ladybug and Cat Noir, but things are about to take an unexpected turn. Secrets that have yet to be revealed are in danger of being found out. And their lives? They're about to be changed forever.
1. Chapter 1

*Hi everyone! Just a little info you should know before you start reading, this is a finished story, so please do not submit ideas for plot lines or characters I could add. I will not be publishing all chapters at once, but the entire fanfiction has been written. I do welcome criticism though. Feel free to comment and give ideas on how I can make my writing better. Any criticism is helpful. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

 **Chapter 1**

Alya sat in the center of Marinette's bed watching her best friend pace across the center of the room. Marinette's room was almost like a personalization of her mind. Her sewing machine sat on a desk next to a container of brightly colored threads and various sized sewing needles. Her latest creation was on her dress form. It was a simple sundress made out of a pale pink cotton trimmed with white lace, but she could see how well-constructed it was. Even without formal training, Marinette still managed to create clothes that were worthy of Paris's most expensive boutiques. Her sketch book sat on the desk next to the sewing machine. If Alya looked inside she'd see extremely detailed drawings along with unfinished sketches of ideas that were just not quite right. Her walls were covered in various posters, but she had a collage of pictures of her crush hanging up above her computer. Alya was rooting so hard for her best friend to get the boy one day. She just hoped that Marinette would be able to get past her nervousness and actually talk to him. In fact that was what Marinette called her over here for, but she hadn't gotten around to telling her what exactly it was yet.

"Okay!" Marinette exclaimed, stopping her pacing to face Alya. "Today's the day! Today is the day I am finally going to ask Adrien out."

"Wooo! Congrats girl! How're you going to do it?"

Marinette started pacing again and then started speaking so fast Alya had to concentrate to catch all her words. "Well, you know the dance tomorrow night, Adrien still doesn't have a date. He even turned down Chloe, which I thought was hilarious. Chloe was so mad! I wish I had a picture of her face. Anyway, getting back to my plan. I'll get him alone away from anyone who might interrupt, mainly Chloe, then I'll ask him using this script I wrote myself!" Marinette grabbed the sheet of paper off her desk and held it up proudly to Alya.

Alya grabbed the paper from her best friend and read it quickly. "Wow! This sounds amazing, Marinette!" Alya complimented. "Hopefully you can get the words out before you realize you're actually talking to _Adrien_." Alya extended Adrien's name out in a way that had become overly familiar to Marinette. She let her voice hang on the vowels in a sing-song sort of way.

"Ha ha," Marinette said, not amused whatsoever. She glanced over to her clock, saw the time, and then gasped. "Alya! We're gonna be late!" Marinette couldn't afford to be late any more times than she had. Her duties as Ladybug had caused her to miss at least half a day of class at times.

The two girls grabbed their book bags and rushed out of Marinette's house. They made it to class with minutes to spare. Alya was completely out of breath, but Marinette was not winded at all. Even without her Ladybug powers, Marinette had amazing endurance. Alya envied it from time to time, but only wishing she could use it to keep up with Ladybug for her blog.

Adrien stepped out of the car, pulling his bag with him. Plagg was nestled safely away in a side pocket eating a piece of camembert Adrien kept on him at all times. He could need to transform at any time, and the last thing he needed was a hungry Kwami. Of course it wasn't like Plagg was very willing in the first place. He was the manifestation of laziness. Plagg wasn't like that all the time. He did help Adrien from time to time, and Adrien knew that Plagg cared about him, in his own odd way. He believed that Plagg showed his affection through pranks and leaving cheese everywhere.

Adrien made his way up the front steps and glanced around at his classmates. Ever since he fell in love with Ladybug, he'd been doing his best at trying to find out who she was. He'd never force her to tell him, and he knew the reasons behind why she didn't want him to know, but it sucked. He loved her, and he barely knew her. Well that wasn't technically true. He knew she was confident, brave, quick-thinking, caring, stubborn, and sometimes a bit rash, but she had a good sense of humor. The same couldn't be said for her taste in puns, but all of those things added up to the very girl he fell in love with. He could barely remember a time when Ladybug wasn't in his life. It wasn't like his life was exciting before that. It was the same thing every day. Photoshoots, fencing lessons, Chinese tutor, rinse and repeat. He always followed orders without question, and had to think before he said or did anything. When he was given his miraculous, he realized he could be free. He was free from his overbearing father and the enormous mansion. He could go anywhere and do anything. He never had to watch what he said. Adrien knew he probably over did it a little bit, but he had fifteen years of life to catch up on.

As his eyes always did, they landed on Marinette. She and Alya were already up on the second floor. He could never tell what it was about her, but he kept finding himself wanting to be with her. He wasn't sure if it was their friendship, or if it was something else. She was his third friend ever, and that connection would never go away. He smiled to himself as he thought of the few times he'd had to save her from an akumatized villain. She always seemed confident when facing against an enemy. From the way she faced off with them it was like she felt no fear whatsoever. She was also quick on her feet to come up with solutions. Heck, she even helped him get out of that box when fighting against the Evillustrator, a solution he stupidly didn't think about. He kicked himself later for not realizing that sooner. Though it was a bit difficult being around her as Cat Noir. He had to pretend to not know her at first, but he did have fun showing off in front of her. It was nice to talk to her without Marinette tripping over her words around him. He still hadn't figured out why she acted so weird around him. It was like she was scared or nervous. He knew he'd figure it out one day, but it was just a matter of when.

The class bell rang, snapping Adrien out of his reverie, and all the students headed to their classes. Marinette and Alya sat down in their usual seats behind Adrien and Nino, currently empty. They came in a few moments after the girls did. Adrien smiled and waved at the two girls, to which Marinette returned with a deep blush and a sheepish finger wiggle.

Alya leaned over and whispered, "You'll never be able to do it," she whispered into her best friend's ear.

Marinette didn't disagree. She knew it was going to be a big order to fill, but she knew that if she just channeled the same confidence she had as Ladybug then this would be a cake walk. As Ladybug, she could actually talk to Adrien. She'd thought about this a hundred times, and Marinette had narrowed it down to the fact that Adrien had no idea it was her underneath that mask. When she was wearing that mask, she wasn't Marinette. With that mask on, she was Ladybug. And Ladybug wasn't awkward or at loss for words or had to look away just to talk to a boy she really liked. Ladybug was confident and graceful and sure of herself. Marinette wasn't, and she couldn't be like that when facing against a foe. That would mean putting herself, Cat Noir, and more importantly Paris in danger. As Ladybug, she couldn't be Marinette.

She went through her script in her head as much as she could in class. By the time they broke for lunch, she felt she was ready. All she had to do was get Adrien away from _Chloe._ That girl filled Marinette with disgust. Deep down, Marinette knew that Chloe was a good person. Way, way, way, way deep down. Like bottom of the ocean in Marina's Trench deep down, but she still hated her. Adrien could see the good side of her better than anyone else, and maybe that was just the fact they'd known each other longer. It didn't mean she liked it.

Luck was with her that day. Chloe and Sabrina had gone off campus, and Adrien and Nino were by themselves.

"Adrien! Nino!" she called, rushing down the stairs to catch up to them.

The two boys turned around at the sound of their names. Adrien had a small smile appear on his face at the sight of Marinette. Nino smiled as Alya appeared behind Marinette. The two of them shared a look that Marinette and Adrien were oblivious to. Marinette rushed forward and made it down almost all the steps before Adrien noticed that her foot was in the perfect position to trip. He moved with cat-like reflexes and held out his arms and caught her easily. He bit back a Cat Noir comment as he caught her. He couldn't risk cracking a joke around Marinette. She had spent enough time around Cat Noir to know that he was a big joker, and Adrien knew that if he let one slip Marinette might get suspicious.

Marinette looked up, her bluebell eyes wide and confused. After realizing what had happened she blushed a deep red, almost the same color as Ladybug's suit Adrien noted.

"Thanks, Adrien," Marinette managed to say without messing up her words. Adrien helped her stand up. She immediately went to her script and thankfully she remembered all the words. "Um, do you mind if we talk privately?"

"Uh, yeah," Adrien said. He glanced over at Nino. "I'll see you later, bud."

"See you in a bit." The two of them fist bumped then Adrien and Marinette started walking down the sidewalk.

"What did you wanna talk about?" Adrien asked after a few moments of silence.

"Uh," Marinette muttered, her voice quavering. She was starting to lose the words to her script. If she didn't want to sound like a complete idiot, like she usually did, she'd need to ask him now. "So, you know the dance tomorrow?"

His bright, green grass eyes looked at her warmly. "Yeah," he said, encouraging her to go on. Up until recently this would've been the longest conversation he had with her. Things changed when Alya called him to translate for Marinette when her uncle came to visit. Almost their entire time together Marinette wasn't timid or shy around him and ever since she'd grown more comfortable around him. She could hold a conversation with Adrien longer without tripping up or reverting back to making unintelligible noises.

"Well, um, I was hoping that — maybe if y-y-you didn't h-have a date already, you would like to go with me?" she asked. That went better than Marinette expected. She even gave up on trying to remember the script and just thought of the first words that came to mind. As she waited for Adrien to answer, her mind started to come up with every scenario and pretty much all of them ended up going badly.

Adrien was surprised by the question, but to Marinette's delight he didn't laugh in her face or flat out tell her no. In fact, he smiled widely at her and nodded. "I would love to," he replied excitedly.

Adrien was starting to wonder if he was going to have to go alone to the dance. He'd never been to one and he didn't want show up to his first dance without a date. He had considered asking Chloe, just so he didn't show up alone, but if he asked her she'd latch onto him and never let him go. He dismissed the thought almost as soon as it had occurred to him. So when Chloe had asked him just two days before Adrien told her no. He tried to turn her down as gently as he could, but Chloe was extremely emotional. She stormed off and for a moment he was afraid she was in danger of being akumatized, but when he saw her the next morning he knew his fear was moot.

Adrien knew the person he actually wanted to go with, but that would mean revealing his identity to her, and her to him. He had surprised himself when he said yes to Marinette's offer. He'd said no to every other girl that'd asked him, so he wondered why she was different. He couldn't figure it out. She was sweet and kind, if a bit shy, and he did like her. He knew the two of them would have a lot of fun. Maybe that was why. He looked at the girl in front of him, and her beaming and relieved face stirred something inside of him. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about her made him feel very comfortable.

"Great!" she blurted out after snapping out of the shock Adrien's answer had sent her in. Her excitement was starting to boil over. She was about to burst she was so excited. Her body was filled with something that was unidentifiable, but very familiar. She couldn't pinpoint what exactly what she was feeling, but at that moment she didn't care. This was the moment she'd been waiting for all this time! She was going to a dance with _Adrien Agreste_!

Adrien let out a small chuckle at her excited reaction. "Great. I'll pick you up at seven then?"

She nodded her head vigorously. "Seven sounds wonderful."

"Okay," he said, visibly excited as well. "Well, I'm sure Nino's waiting for me. I'll see you later?"

She nodded again. "Yeah. Later."

He smiled at her once more before running back in the direction of the school. Plagg flew out of his usual shirt pocket, holding his normal smelly piece of camembert.

"Wooo!" Plagg said. "Someone's got a date! Is she going to be your girlfriend? Are you over Ladybug already?"

To not risk anyone seeing him, Adrien ran to underneath a tree for some privacy. "No! Of course not," Adrien said. "It's just that it's my first dance ever. Marinette asked me so I decided to say yes. Why wait around and miss out on something normal when I could have fun with a great girl and actually enjoy my life?"

"Hm. I guess you're right," Plagg said. "But if you happen to fall in love with this new girl, how do you think Ladybug will take it?" He threw the cheese up in the air and caught it in his mouth, swallowing it whole. Adrien sighed at his Kwami. Ladybug would probably take it just fine. It wasn't like she had feelings for him in the way that he did for her. Adrien knew that Ladybug cared for Cat Noir. She'd shown that many times over, but was it love? He wasn't sure. He was sure that Ladybug believed his flirtatious nature with her was just how he was, but he honestly only ever flirted with her.

If Ladybug knew he only flirted with her, then maybe things would be different. She'd realize that his feelings for her were real and not just a joke to lighten the mood. He'd wondered on multiple occasions if she had feelings for someone else, or if she was dating someone when not in the costume. Surprisingly, he found he could be alright with that. All that mattered to him was that she was happy, which sounded super cheesy, but it was true. He had to remind himself that this was just all hypothetical. She was very private about her life outside of their superhero jobs, and so was he. He'd open up to her every so often when they were out on patrol, but he was careful not to mention too much that might give away his identity. Ladybug did the same, but she was even more reserved than he was. He had tried many times to get her to open up more, to at least tell him what her favorite color was, but he'd never gotten an answer. One day he might.

As he headed back to the school he discreetly sniffed his shirt and sighed when it smelled like cheese. Why did he have to be paired with a Kwami that basically only ate the foulest smelling cheese in all of Paris? He'd tried to convince Plagg to eat something other than camembert, but with little success. As he reached Nino Plagg flew back into his customary shirt pocket as to not be seen by Adrien's best friend. The two fist bumped then headed down the road to a deli to get something other than school food.

Alya ran down the sidewalk when she saw Adrien return but not Marinette. She began to worry about her best friend, but after seeing Marinette just standing there with a dazed look on her face she knew there was nothing to worry about.

"How'd it go, girl?" Alya asked when within earshot.

"He said yes," Marinette muttered. She was looking off into the distance, specifically the Eiffel Tower. It was her favorite landmark in Paris.

"No way!" Alya yelled. "Oh. My. Gosh! Marinette! I am so proud of you!"

"Can you believe it? He said yes to me," she continued in her same dazed voice. Alya recognized that voice and smiled to herself.

She put her arm around Marinette then started steering her back to school. "As soon as classes are out, we are raiding your closet for the perfect dress for tomorrow!" Alya said, hoping that pull Marinette out of her reverie. If Alya let her continue on for any longer she'd be daydreaming about Adrien for the rest of the day.

Alya and Marinette started talking animatedly about wardrobe options for the dance, but unbeknownst to the girls there was another girl about to ask Adrien. She walked up to him and with barely enough courage to look him in the eye asked him to the very same dance Marinette asked him to not two minutes ago. Adrien did his best to let the girl down gently, but he knew he couldn't do it without deeply upsetting the girl. He mentioned that he was going with Marinette and that seemed to be the last straw. She ran away, tears streaming down her face. She was hurt and sad and angry and was wishing that Marinette was out of the way. Her emotions were the perfect breeding ground for Hawk Moth's little akumas. The darkened butterfly flew over to the girl and landed on her bracelet in the shape of a lightning strike. With very little persuasion from Hawk Moth, she said yes and transformed, wishing Marinette could be zapped out of existence.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

As everyone walked back into class everything seemed normal. Adrien smiled and waved to Marinette as she walked in. She waved back, and was too busy waving to notice the first step. She tripped and would've hit the steps if Adrien hadn't moved with reflexes fast enough to give Cat Noir a run for his money and caught her for the second time that day.

"We've got to stop meeting like this." He bit his tongue to keep himself from saying "princess." That would without a doubt reveal himself to be Cat Noir.

Marinette blushed deeply then quickly stood up. She stuttered out a thank you to Adrien before taking her normal seat behind him and waited for class to start.

Before the teacher could get started writing on the board, there was a loud bang and a flash from outside. Everyone gasped and looked towards the door. After just a few short seconds it was blown off its hinges and crashed into the opposite wall. Almost everyone started screaming and scrambling to get out, but a figure stepped through the door effectively blocking the only exit. It was obvious she'd been akumatized. Her skin was gray and her hair, a blinding white, had been lifted up over head like it'd been permanently electrified. Her normal clothes had been replaced with a costume that could only be described as electrifying.

The villain stepped away from the door with her eyes scanning every face in the room. Marinette and Adrien stood up in front of their classmates and blocked them as they tried to get out. Once they were safe Adrien reflexively reached out and grabbed Marinette's hand to pull her from the classroom. Before they could get very far a lightning bolt flashed and blew up the desk behind them. Adrien lost his grip on her as the exploding desk threw them apart. Marinette landed on the floor in front of the villain hitting her head against the floor while Adrien was banged against the wall. He slumped to the floor unconscious but still breathing. The villain picked him up and set him outside so she wouldn't be disturbed.

Marinette knew she had been out for only a few seconds, but those few seconds felt like they had been hours. She lightly touched the tender spot on her head and winced as it caused a sharp pain. She gasped and started looking around for her bag. She sighed when she saw it was still on her person. She pressed her palm against the fabric and was reassured to find Tikki still there.

Marinette looked up and saw the akuma villain glaring down at her.

"Hello, Marinette," the villain said with an evil smile. "I'm glad we could have some time alone together."

Marinette stood up despite the pain it caused her to face the villain. "What do you want?" Marinette demanded. Her voice was luckily not betraying how scared she was at the moment.

"I just want to go to the dance with Adrien," she replied. "But that can't happen because you're going to the dance with him!"

She gasped and her heart started to race. Someone must've overheard her conversation with Adrien. She hadn't told anyone she was going with him. As far as she knew the only people who knew were their respective best friends. Marinette thought of all the people who could possibly know, and the only one that came to mind was Chloe, but she was sitting right there in class when they were attacked. Honestly it could be any girl who had a crush on Adrien. Any one of them could be disappointed enough to be a victim of Hawk Moth.

Shaking those thoughts aside Marinette knew she needed to get out of there and transform soon. Knowing she couldn't get out of there without a fight she tried to find something to use as a weapon.

"Who are you?" Marinette asked, trying to stall. Her eyes were quickly scanning the room looking for a viable makeshift weapon. She saw the desk shards but none of them were big enough. She turned her attention back to the villain.

"Spark Plug, if you must know. But it's not like you're going to be around long enough for it to matter."

Marinette's eyes went wide as she saw Spark Plug lift her arm. A small, lightning bolt shaped jewel started to light up. She dodged just in time to not be hit, but her actions got her further away from the door.

Adrien woke up on the floor just outside the classroom. He shook off the dull ache and stood up despite his body's protest. He turned and looked inside to see Marinette standing across from the latest akuma villain. He gasped at the realization. Sarah. She had caught him as he was going back to Nino. He thought he turned her down gently, but his mention of Marinette must've pushed her over the edge. He clenched his fist and squeezed his eyes shut. This was his fault. Sarah should be going after him and not her. He quickly shook off those thoughts. There was nothing he could do about it now.

Adrien ran into the nearest room and thankfully found it empty. Plagg flew out of shirt pocket and didn't give him a single excuse to not transform. Plagg knew that this possession was partly because of Adrien, and he could tell that his boy didn't need an argument right now.

"Plagg, claws out!" he said. He held up his hand with the ring on it. Plagg flew through the air until he was pulled into the ring. Adrien felt his power as Plagg got sucked into the Miraculous. He felt the skintight, yet unbreakable suit appear over his body. Within seconds he had transformed into Cat Noir. He twitched his tail nervously then ran out of the bathroom. Marinette was running down the stairs with Sarah right behind her. She tripped on the last step and landed flat on her back. Sarah knew she had her chance. She held up her wrist and a lightning shaped object began to glow. He grabbed his staff and threw it towards Sarah just before the bolt shot out and missed her target. Cat Noir jumped into the air with a summersault and landed lithely on his feet in front of Marinette. He grabbed his staff, extended it so that it was the length of his body and held an end out in front of him.

Sarah was seething as she turned her eyes on the superhero.

"Cat Noir," Sarah said. He started twirling the staff as he got into a defensive stance in front of his date. "So nice of you to come! You know there's something I want from you. Give it to me, and I won't hurt anyone."

"Don't do it, Cat Noir," Marinette told him defiantly. "She's lying anyway. As soon as you're powerless she'd kill me then go after Ladybug."

At the mention of Ladybug he wondered where she was. She must've been distracted or didn't know about this. He would have to get a hold of her later. He just hoped she was watching the Ladyblog. Cat Noir knew that Alya had to be there somewhere filming all of this. There was no way she would miss out on a scoop like this.

"You don't have to do this, Sarah!" he told her.

"How do you know her name?" Marinette asked.

Cat Noir panicked. He should've thought through his words first. "Uhh, Adrien told me," he quickly lied. "He caught me as he was running out. He told me that he recognized her as a girl he turned down for a dance or something."

Marinette accepted the lie, at least he thought she did. He had her back to her at that moment so he couldn't see her face. During this short conversation they had been backing up as Sarah advanced on them.

"My name isn't Sarah! Not anymore! I am Spark Plug!" She held up her wrist and shot another lightning bolt. Cat Noir deflected each strike with little difficulty, but already his arms were starting to get tired. He wished for an opening to attack, but Sarah wasn't giving him the chance.

Marinette hated feeling helpless while her partner was right there protecting her, but she couldn't transform without revealing her secret identity. Tikki peaked her head out Marinette's purse. She shook her head and gently pushed the Kwami back down into hiding.

Cat Noir deflected one last bolt and this one managed to hit Spark Plug square in the chest. She cried out then fell to ground with a thump.

"Ugh," she growled while struggling to stand up. The two of them noticed that she looked physically drained. "I will be back for your Marinette! I will fry you for taking Adrien away from me!"

Spark Plug flew out of there and left them on their own. Once Cat Noir felt it was safe he turned around to check on Marinette.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

She nodded gratefully. "Yes. Thank you for saving my life."

Cat Noir smiled and bowed. "It's no problem, Princess." He stood back up and saw her smiling at him. It wasn't a grateful or star struck smile. The best description Cat Noir could come up with was amusement. "So, do you know what got Sarah all charged up with hate for you?"

Marinette sighed at the pun. She hoped he'd interpret it as sorrow. "Yeah. Unfortunately I do. She told me while I was trapped up there."

"What happened?" he asked.

She blushed before she started speaking, and then she was hesitant to tell him. "I asked a boy I've been crushing on forever to a dance tomorrow night before she could. He turned her down, and I guess it was too much for her."

Cat Noir was extremely surprised to hear that Marinette had a crush on him, well, Adrien. As he thought over this new information, he mentally kicked himself for being so oblivious! That was why she was always so nervous and got extra clumsy around him. He was so stupid to not have seen the signs.

Marinette was hanging her head like it was her fault. He wanted to reassure her, to put a hand on her shoulder and let her know that it wasn't her fault. It was his. He was the one who turned her down. Sarah should be going after him not Marinette.

Before he could think about this further the lights went out in the school. Cat Noir quickly shook off the thoughts. There were more important things to focus on.

"So that's what she meant by recharge," he muttered quietly, thinking of the city's power plant.

"She must've used the electricity from the power plant," Marinette theorized, echoing Cat Noir's thoughts. "Do you think the entire city is without power?"

Cat Noir grinned. "One way to find out." He wrapped his arm around her waist and righted his staff. He extended it with less than a thought. He had no trouble keeping his balance as he lifted their bodies up in the air. Once he had gotten up high enough above the school's ceiling he shifted their weight so the staff tilted them onto the roof. He retracted his long staff back into a foot long stick and hooked it back into its holster.

Marinette looked around the city. Despite the sun shining brightly both she and Cat Noir could tell that most, if not all, of the city had no power.

"There!" Marinette said, pointing to something off in the distance. He followed her gaze and saw what she saw. There was smoke rising up from the ground, and he thought he saw large sparks flashing in the same area.

"That's got to be where Spark Plug is," she continued.

"Good eye," Cat Noir said. "Look, Marinette, you need to head home. You're parents are probably worried sick. Ladybug and I can handle this." If she showed up. He was starting to get worried. Where could his lady be? It wasn't like her to be this late to a fight.

Marinette agreed with little difficulty. He helped her down to the ground, and after a hurried thank you she ran off in the direction of her parent's bakery.

He extended his staff long enough to vault him through the city, but before he could get a running start a lovingly familiar voice sounded from above him.

"Thought you'd get to have all the fun without me, huh?" Ladybug said with a smile.

She jumped off the roof of the building and landed lightly on her feet.

"Sorry I was late," she apologized.

Cat Noir thought past all the feelings Ladybug gave him when he was in her presence to focus on the task at hand.

"Where were you, LB?" he asked flirtatiously. "I was getting worried."

"I had something I couldn't get out of," she explained as vaguely as she could. "I ran into Marinette on my way here. She's safe. She's with her parents."

Cat Noir let out a sigh of relief. He was glad to hear that she made it home safe.

"So," Ladybug said with a familiar glint in her big blue eyes, "shall we, partner?"

Cat Noir smiled as he was filled with such affection for the girl in front of him. "We shall."

The two superheroes made off quickly to the outskirts of the city. As they neared the power plant they found a spot out of sight to observe what Spark Plug was doing. She was walking around the facility doing what they assumed to be charging up. They watched as she placed her hands on a metal pole then glow with power. She repeated the same process in the next area.

"Her akuma is probably in her bracelet," Cat Noir whispered to Ladybug. "I noticed it back at the school." Bracelets were the hardest akumas to get back. They had to extremely careful or risk getting hurt.

"How are we going to stop her?" Ladybug whispered to her partner. She was staring attentively at the scene around them. He smiled to himself as he saw her expression get very intense.

"So you want to pull the plug on her?" Cat Noir asked with his typical pun smile.

Ladybug stared at him incredulously for a moment then sighed while placing her face in her hand. He was proud of himself to say the least.

"Cat, this isn't time for your jokes! We need to get serious here!"

"Of course, we wouldn't want anyone to get Hertz out there."

Resisting the urge to whack him with his own staff, Ladybug thought about their options. Spark Plug hadn't finished draining the power from the plant. If they didn't act soon Paris and most of this part of France would be in a blackout.

"Cat Noir, go at her from the front. If you can keep her distracted I'll come at her from behind and get the akuma, got it?"

"Of course, my lady. As you wish." Cat Noir gently kissed the back of her hand before jumping down to the ground. He crouched low to keep out sight until the very last second.

"Hey! Remember me?" he called out, appearing from his hiding place.

Spark Plug turned around with a sneer on her face. "Cat Noir. I should've known you'd follow me. And where's your buggy little friend I've heard so much about? I have someone who _really_ wants to have her earrings."

Cat Noir discreetly looked up to see Ladybug running across the roof of a nearby building.

"She's not here at the moment. This is between you and me." He extended his staff out so that it was half a head taller than him. Even though Ladybug didn't know this, Sarah being akumatized was partly his fault. He felt a little extra encouraged to nip this one in the bud.

Spark Plug lifted her wrist and shot out a lightning bolt in Cat Noir's direction. He back-flipped out of the way but she shot off another one. He knew that if he could get her to use up all her charge it would be easier to take her down. He just wondered how long that was going to take. He managed to get close enough to land a few blows himself, but after getting lightly fried in one of his attacks he felt it safer to just dodge rather than attack.

Ladybug, watching the fight looking for an opening, almost burst into action when she saw Cat get hit with a lightning bolt. Luckily he sprung back quickly. She knew she needed to act fast to save Cat Noir from permanent damage. She threw her yoyo and hooked it around one of the poles. She gripped it tightly then swung towards Spark Plug. She kicked the akuma villain on her back, causing her to be thrown to the other side of Cat Noir.

"Cat! The bracelet!" Ladybug yelled as she landed.

He broke off running on all fours and almost had his hand around the bracelet but Spark Plug was faster. She bolted him with the biggest surge of electricity yet. Cat Noir flew back several feet and landed lifeless on the ground.

"Cat! No!" Ladybug screamed at the sight of her partner. She ran over to him and pulled him into her arms. He was breathing, but barely. Ladybug looked up and saw Spark Plug with a pink outline of a butterfly over her face.

Spark Plug listened with intent as Hawk Moth encouraged her to take Cat Noir's miraculous while she still had the chance.

Even though Ladybug couldn't hear what Hawk Moth was saying, she knew the drill well enough by now to know that he was telling Spark Plug to take Cat's miraculous. The only way that was going to happen was if it was over her dead body.

While Spark Plug was distracted, Ladybug used her lucky charm. She threw her yoyo into the air and yelled "Lucky Charm!" As her yoyo was returned to her, another object fell with it. This one was heavier and a lot bigger. She held it up and saw that it was a very large, yet simple concave disk covered in the same ladybug pattern as her suit. What in the world was she supposed to do with that? She looked around for an idea to come to her. Within seconds she saw a fire hydrant, Spark Plug herself, and Cat Noir's staff light up red with black dots. She knew exactly what to do. With the disk under her arm and a plan in her head she sprang into action.

"Hey! You want my Miraculous? Come and get it!" Ladybug yelled. She bent down and picked up Cat Noir's still extended staff then took off running towards the fire hydrant with the disk under her arm. She ran in a zig-zag to avoid being hit by Spark Plug's blasts. As she neared the fire hydrant, she slid the disk across the ground to free her hands. Using the staff and all of her superhuman strength she knocked off the top of the fire hydrant. Water started spewing from the newly made opening. Spark Plug was flying towards her, arm outstretched, but Ladybug was faster. She grabbed the disk and, using the concave structure to her advantage, angled the flow so that Spark Plug was sprayed with the mini geyser Ladybug had created. She crashed to the ground twitching and zapping from being shorted out like that. Not wasting a second Ladybug ran over and pulled the bracelet from her wrist and broke it with a simple yank. The akuma fluttered out and before it could get too far Ladybug opened up her yoyo and caught it. She set it free and watched the purified akuma fly away back towards the city.

To restore everything as it was, she retrieved the disk and threw it up into the sky while saying, "Miraculous Ladybug!" The mirror exploded into red and pink bubbles and they set out to do their job. The fire hydrant was repaired and the power plant was back to working order.

Once everything was back to normal she ran over to Cat Noir where he was just starting to come to. She reached him just as he was opening his eyes.

After getting knocked out by Spark Plug, the next thing Cat Noir saw was Ladybug looking down at him worriedly.

"Oh thank goodness you're okay!" Ladybug exclaimed when she saw that he was waking up. She pulled him up into her lap as he regained his strength.

" _Bonjour,_ my lady," Cat Noir muttered. He tried to move but his body ached all over. He wasn't going to be able to move tomorrow morning.o Ladybug helped him to his feet. He groaned the entire time.

"How're you doing?" she asked.

"I'm catastic," Cat Noir joked, but his heart wasn't in it. He was too exhausted.

Ladybug sighed, but she was smiling at him. "It's good to know she hasn't fried your sense of humor."

Cat Noir smiled at her, but it hurt to do so. He couldn't wait to get home and run a bath in his giant tub. One upside to having an extremely rich father was having what was basically a hot tub to soak away his muscles after a grueling day of fighting with Ladybug.

Suddenly he was pulled into a hug. That was the last thing he expected, but he didn't hesitate to hug her back. Ladybug held onto him tightly. She never wanted to let him go. He might annoy her to pieces with all those horrible jokes, but she still cared for him.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, you stupid cat," she whispered. "I almost lost you back there. Can you try not to be so reckless next time?"

She pulled away from the hug, but left her hands on his shoulders. She stared at him intently to show him how serious she was.

"In my defense you are the one that told me to get the bracelet," he said.

"You didn't have to charge at her full steam ahead! You need to be more careful! You almost died, Cat!" She punched him in the arm, but only to keep herself from crying. "I can't do this without you, Cat Noir."

He was honestly surprised to hear her say that. On the multiple times he'd been taken over by an akuma villain, she'd managed to take him down as well as defeat the villain. He didn't remember these instances, for which he was grateful. He wasn't sure his pride could handle it. It appeared Ladybug didn't need him if she could take villains down by herself. To hear Ladybug say she couldn't do this without him? It honestly surprised him.

He bent down to retrieve his staff, but saw that Ladybug was holding it. He raised an eyebrow.

Ladybug noticed he was staring at her hand then realized she was still holding his staff. "Oh! Yeah I borrowed it. Hope you don't mind," she said as she handed it back to him.

"You can borrow anything of mine, my lady," he said with a smile as he put it up.

A beep sounded from Ladybug's earrings and he knew she only had a few minutes until transforming back.

"You should get going," he told her.

Ladybug hesitated. She glanced over at Sarah who was still passed out.

"Don't worry," Cat Noir said. "I'll take care of it."

Ladybug sighed gratefully. "Thank you, Cat. You have no idea how much I appreciate it. I'll call the mayor and he'll send someone down here to pick her up."

"You're welcome, Ladybug. Now go before you turn back to normal."

"Are you sure?" she asked, hesitating once again.

"Yes! Go home. I got this."

"Thank you again, Cat Noir." She hugged him one last time before throwing her yoyo up and swinging away into the distance.

He walked over to the girl just as she was starting to stir. He picked up the bracelet and knelt down next to her.

"Wh-what's going on?" she asked, obviously confused as to why she was here. When her eyes settled on Cat Noir she was even more confused, but glad to see him.

"Here," he said, handing her the bracelet. "You'll probably want this back."

She gasped and jovially took it from him. "Oh! Thank you!"

"Come on," he said, holding out his hand. "Let's get you out of here." He could hear some cars approaching and knew it had to be from the mayor. Cat Noir pulled Sarah to her feet and guided her to the nondescript sedan that had pulled up. He recognized the driver that stepped out of the car. He'd seen him drive Chloe around a few times.

Cat Noir handed Sarah off to the driver and instructed him to take her home. Once the cars had left he was able to fully relax. Another akuma defeated and another victim saved. Just another day in the life of Cat Noir and Ladybug.

He grabbed his staff and used it to bring himself home. He de-transformed and collapsed on his bed. Plagg flew out before he could get squashed by his charge's body weight.

Plagg flew over to small stash of cheese Adrien kept in his room just for him. He picked up a piece of Camembert to recharge after that one particularly exhausting fight. That akumatized villain really packed a punch this time. Within seconds his boy was asleep. Deciding Adrien didn't need another reason to be hated by his father, Plagg flew over and turned on the alarm for the next morning. Knowing Adrien and how exhausted he could get after fights, Plagg knew that Adrien could sleep for twelve hours or even longer. Who knew how long he'd sleep this time after being electrocuted like that.


	3. Chapter 3

*Hi everyone! I know this update is early but I am going to be busy all weekend so I figured I'd post it early instead of late. I hope you enjoy chapter 3!

 **Chapter 3**

Marinette made it home with seconds to spare. As soon as she climbed into her bedroom her earrings beeped and she was transformed back to normal. Tikki flew out and landed in Marinette's palms utterly exhausted.

"How are you doing, Tikki?" Marinette asked her Kwami. She brought her over to her bed and set her on a pillow. Marinette went over to her small stash of cookies and brought them over for her to munch on.

"Tired," she answered in a soft, yet high-pitched voice. The red Kwami picked up one of the cookies excitedly and took a huge bite.

"Well, get some rest," Marinette told Tikki. "I'm going to grab something to eat then probably take a nap."

Tikki nodded then took another huge bite out of the cookie. Once Marinette made it downstairs she could smell the fresh cakes being baked for an order they received a few days ago. It was for a wedding with over a two hundred guests. It was their biggest order in a couple months. As she walked into the back she saw several round cake layers resting on cooling racks. Her father was just pulling the last two out of the oven.

"Hi, Dad," Marinette greeted.

Tom looked over at his daughter with surprise. He checked the time on the wall and was even more surprised to see that it wasn't time for school to be let out.

"Hi! What are you doing home so early, Marinette?" he asked, setting down the freshly baked cakes.

"There was an attack at school. They cancelled classes for the rest of the day," Marinette said. She wasn't lying, she just didn't mention that all of it happened earlier than she was implying.

"Well, there are some cheese croissants cooling just over there. Feel free to have some," Tom offered his daughter. She seemed overly eager for the food as he watched her grab not her usual two but four croissants. He just thought it was from all the excitement at school that day. She always seemed to get extra hungry on days when an akuma struck.

Marinette took the cheese filled pastry back up to her room and ate all four of them quickly. She felt very exhausted herself, but she could only wonder how Cat Noir was feeling after being hit like that. He didn't look good when she left him, but she had no choice. She was going to transform back at any moment. Although she knew that Cat Noir would never tell anyone her secret, it was still too risky. She just knew that someone somehow would find out and use her or his family against them.

She curled up on the bed without even bothering to change into something else and fell right asleep. Tikki munched on her cookies thoughtfully as she watched her charge sleep. She hoped that this night would be a dreamless one. Marinette had been having too many nightmares for Tikki's comfort. Every so often she'd mutter a name or a word, but it was hard for Tikki to understand what Marinette was dreaming. She'd tried to get her to open up, but every time Tikki brought up the subject Marinette would go quiet and brush it off. Tikki respected her privacy, but if Marinette wouldn't talk about it then it could really affect her out when she's fighting. She didn't want her in more danger than she already was.

Marinette woke up to Tikki pulling on one of her pig tails. "What is it?" Marinette groaned. She rolled over and checked the time. It was almost one a.m. She'd been sleeping for over eight hours.

"Cat Noir's upstairs," Tikki explained in a hushed whisper.

"What?" Marinette asked. She rubbed her eyes to help wake her up. Cat Noir? On her roof? "Tikki, what are you talking about?"

"Shh! He'll hear you! He's been up there for twenty minutes. Go see what he wants."

Marinette was too tired to argue with Tikki anymore. She rolled out of bed, stumbled to her feet, and donned her robe. She climbed up her steps to her little roof patio and sure enough Cat Noir was there. He was facing away from her, staring out into the Paris night sky. His tail was curled up to keep it off the ground. She smiled as she saw the city all lit up. They did this. If it wasn't for them Paris might had been permanently blacked out.

"Cat Noir?" Marinette asked confusedly.

He turned around in surprise. He wasn't expecting Marinette to wake up and discover him there. Despite Marinette's exhaustion her brain was starting to come up with dozens of possible explanations as to why he was there.

"Oh! Marinette," he said. "Hi!" He smiled sheepishly and waved.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" The only plausible explanation was that he knew her identity. Of course she had no idea how he could know.

"I wanted to check on you, to make sure you were okay," he explained.

She raised an eyebrow. "At one a.m.? Don't you have anything better to do?" Like sleeping? Even cats had to sleep.

He shrugged. "Honestly no."

"Why are you checking on me? You and Ladybug did defeat Spark Plug, didn't you? I'm no longer in danger."

"We did, yes, but still. Getting personally attacked like that it… it doesn't feel good."

Marinette tried to keep her poker face on. She knew exactly how it felt, more so than she'd ever let on to Cat Noir.

"Well, thank you for checking on me, Cat Noir," Marinette told him. She pulled the robe tighter against her body as a chilly breeze blew across the roof. "I truly appreciate it, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way but can you go? I feel like I'm about to fall asleep right now."

Cat Noir chuckled softly, and the sound struck a chord in Marinette. With her tired, achy brain she thought it sounded awfully familiar. She'd heard Cat Noir laugh thousands of times before, but this time was different. It was… softer. Gentler. It wasn't a laugh to put on a good face, or one that comes from telling a good joke. This was something else entirely, and one that she'd heard before. If only she could figure out where.

He jumped up on the railing and crouched there without having to worry about keeping his balance. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a smile.

"See you around, Princess," he said before jumping into the night. With Cat Noir gone she headed back downstairs to her room where Tikki was waiting. Marinette went back to bed, but couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried. She was too riled up from the surprise of Cat Noir coming to see her. She went over to her desk and opened her sketch book. She was unsure of what to draw and stared at the blank piece of paper for several minutes before a sudden burst of inspiration came over her. She grabbed a red pencil and began drawing the latest design that had popped into her head.

Adrien had thought it over a hundred times in his head whether to go check on Marinette or not. He knew she was okay according to Ladybug, and he also knew that Marinette was strong. He also knew that being personally victimized was not fun, especially when she was not responsible for this person's akuma possession. Adrien was. Sarah blamed Marinette, but it was Adrien who had turned her down, mentioning Marinette in the process. If he had kept his mouth shut Marinette wouldn't have had to get involved. Of course if he was going to go with that logic than Sarah would've gone after him instead of her. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before.

He woke an unwilling Plagg and made his way to Marinette's house. It wasn't until he had gotten there that he realized it was way past midnight. Adrien himself had only gotten a few hours of sleep before his aching body woke him up. He took some pain killers but they only dulled it. He knew he wasn't getting back to sleep anytime soon. He landed quietly on her rooftop patio. He knew she was asleep and didn't want to wake her. He decided to stay just a half hour at most then head back home. His body healed faster when transformed anyway, and the chilly Parisian air might clear his head to help him fall asleep.

Cat Noir didn't expect Marinette to wake up. He had been lost in thought so he didn't hear her come up those stairs. She was tired and confused, as was to be expected. He had forgotten about her crush on him until then. Looking at her at that very moment, he realized how stupid he was. She acted how Cat Noir felt about Ladybug, except on the outside instead of keeping it in like he had to in order to keep themselves safe.

His real motivation for coming to check on her was revealed to him as he saw her under the moonlight. Some part of him had always felt a connection to her, and he always thought it was the fact they became friends his second day of classes. Now he was starting to wonder if it wasn't something more. He loved Ladybug, but she had always been untouchable. She was like a fantasy, some unreachable dream set in a make-believe world. He didn't even know who she really was, and he knew that he'd love her just the same, but you couldn't love someone when you didn't even know their real name. Maybe he should try to move on from Ladybug and on to someone he can actually know. Marinette seemed like a good choice, but thinking about her like that made it seem like she was his second place prize, and Marinette was anything but that. She wasn't second place anything. Ladybug would always have a place in his heart, but why should he let her keep him from living his life?

She had asked him what he was doing there, and Cat Noir told her the truth. He came by to check on her. It was a valid reason, and he didn't want to keep her awake for too long. He could see her get more tired by the second and knew he should be heading home soon.

"Well, thank you for checking on me, Cat Noir," Marinette had said to him. "I truly appreciate it, and I hope you don't take this the wrong way but can you go? I feel like I'm about to fall asleep right now."

Cat Noir couldn't help but chuckle. He left with a smile and a goodbye then ran back to his house. He scaled up the wall and climbed back into his room. After transforming back Plagg was very annoyed with him.

"Are you glad you got that out of the way? You interrupted my beauty sleep," Plagg complained.

"You'd need to sleep for days to make yourself look beautiful," Adrien muttered. His body felt better. Transforming did help him heal, but he was still going to be sore and stiff for a couple of days. Hopefully he'd be in good enough shape for the dance the upcoming night. Adrien felt his exhaustion set in. He slipped off his shoes and over shirt then climbed up onto his bed and fell asleep just as quickly as he did earlier, but this time he actually stayed asleep.

Adrien's alarm was piercing that morning. He grabbed a pillow and threw it in the alarm clock's general direction, but it didn't shut off. Adrien didn't even remember turning it on. Well, if Plagg was going to set alarms around there then he could shut them off.

Adrien got up and stumbled into the bathroom. He was glad that not everything was covered in cheese crumbs. Plagg usually left the bathroom alone, but not always.

As the shower was warming up Plagg finally awoke.

"Aren't you going to shut that off?" he heard his Kwami yell through the door.

Adrien smiled to himself. "You turned it on, so you can turn it off," he yelled back.

He heard Plagg sigh, but a moment later the shrill alarm went away.

In the shower he just let the hot water run down his body to soothe his muscles. He was surprised by the lack of bruising from the electrocution, for which he was glad. The last thing he wanted to do was try and explain them away.

During breakfast Nathalie walked in, her low heels echoing against the tiled floor. She handed Adrien his schedule for the day. He was glad to see that there were no photoshoots scheduled. He really didn't feel up to posing and smiling for no reason except to please his father. He had mentioned the dance to Nathalie, and was very excited to see it written in. He was surprised his father was letting him go to the dance without a lecture about forgoing his studies. Maybe Nathalie didn't even tell him. It would be like her to help Adrien avoid an unnecessary conversation that would end with him sneaking out to go anyway.

Adrien ate breakfast quickly and found himself excited for class and couldn't wait to get going. He wasn't sure why he was so excited. It was just a normal day; granted it was Friday, but that wasn't enough to set Adrien's heart a flutter. His mind strayed to Marinette. She the reason why he was so anxious to get to school that morning. They were going to a dance together, and he just found out she liked him. She had to be the reason. That was the only thing different from this Friday and all the other Friday's he has had at school, not counting akuma attacks.

Marinette appeared to be waiting for him to arrive. She was holding a white paper bag with her family's bakery logo on the front. Inside were a few freshly baked cinnamon swirl rolls. It was a fairly new recipe and Marinette's father was still trying to work out all the details, but he believed this batch was the one. He had Marinette bring some for her friends. Alya and Nino already took their share. All that was left was Adrien, and he should be arriving soon.

Marinette's heart sped up to the speed of a hummingbird's wings when she saw the familiar silver sedan pull up. Adrien stepped out and almost instantly his eyes found Marinette. She blushed as he smiled at her. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear nervously as he approached. She still couldn't believe that she was going to the dance with him that night. She never thought it would happen. Some small part of her still believed that it was a dream.

"Hi, Adrien," she greeted. Marinette did her best to hide how nervous she really was. Apparently she did a good job since Alya discreetly gave her a thumbs up when she looked away. Marinette then remembered the bag in her hand. "Oh, um, I brought these for you. They're a new recipe and my dad needed some guinea pigs to try them out on."

He took the bag from her, letting his fingers brush against hers. The two of them glanced at each other when their skin made contact. Adrien smiled sweetly at his date before reaching into the white paper bag. He pulled out one of the rolls and inhaled its sweet and scrumptious scent. He took one bite and immediately he was hooked. They were delicious! His breakfasts were usually nothing special and this was a real treat to him.

"Oh my gosh! These are amazing!" Adrien exclaimed. "You said these are new?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. My dad was only going to add them if they passed with my friends, and it looks like they did."

Adrien enjoyed seeing Marinette smile, and he enjoyed it even more since her nerves weren't in the way. He began thinking of ways to make her smile, maybe a good joke or something. He'd have to make a list before the dance.

"When your father adds these to the menu I'll have to keep these stockpiled. I've never had anything so delicious," he said around a mouthful of baked bread.

"They can't be as good as the food at some of the five star restaurants you go to," Marinette said quietly.

"No, you'd be surprised at how boring those places are. I've always preferred the homey restaurants. The food tastes authentic and real, just like these."

Marinette blushed a soft shade of pink at Adrien's comment. She looked away as she tucked a lock of raven black hair behind her ear. The four friends headed to class before the bell made them all tardy. Neither Adrien nor Marinette could afford another tardy.

Once the teacher began, Alya began scribbling furiously on a scrap piece of paper. After a moment she slid it across their shared desk to Marinette. She took it and opened it up while their teacher had her back turned.

On the paper Alya had scribbled, "What happened with Cat Noir last night?"

Marinette's best friend had woken up to a text about Cat Noir coming to check on Marinette during the night. Being the runner of the Ladyblog, Alya was itching to know what happened.

Marinette scribbled her response saying, "Nothing. He just wanted to make sure I was okay." She slid it back to Alya who opened it up without even checking to make sure it was clear. Alya was visibly disappointed by Marinette's response. She had hoped for something juicier, but it was what really happened.

"That's it?" Alya had asked when Marinette received the paper again.

Instead of writing it out, she shrugged and nodded. Alya pouted at the lack of a scoop, but she wouldn't be disappointed for too long. It seemed like there was always something going on Paris that required the attention of Cat Noir and Ladybug.

Alya took the paper back from Marinette and scribbled down another question.

"What are you wearing tonight?" she had written.

Marinette's cheeks turned pink once again as she thought of the creation she made earlier that morning. She wasn't sure what made her come up with it, but it was surely one of her favorite designs yet.

Marinette wrote her response quickly. "I actually made something last night. I can show you my sketch later."

"Did you make it special just for Adrien?" Alya had scribbled hastily, placing hearts around Adrien's name.

Marinette didn't answer; her deep red cheeks did that for her. Alya had to restrain herself from getting too excited and tipping the teacher off.

"What color is it?" Alya whispered, not bothering with the piece of paper anymore.

"Red," Marinette whispered. "Now shh!"

Marinette had struggled for about twenty minutes trying to find the perfect fabric for the dress. She dug through her stockpile of fabrics hoping one of them would be the perfect shade of red for the dress. At the very bottom she found a few yards of a dark red matte satin that instantly spoke to her. She knew that part of the reason she loved it was because of her Ladybug outfit. She also knew the risk of wearing red, but it wasn't a masquerade dance so Marinette figured she would be safe from accidentally revealing her identity.

Within just a few hours of sketching it out, she had an almost finished dress. All that needed to be done were a few simple alterations and it'd be finished. The design of the dress was fairly simple. Marinette sketched out an A-line design with an off-shoulder neckline. The skirt started at her natural waist and gently flowed to just above her knees. She struggled with making the dress into a separate bodice and a skirt, but in the end she kept it all one piece. She hoped that Adrien would like it. It was extremely simplistic, and Marinette was afraid it was going to be too simple.

Alya couldn't wait until the end of the school day to see Marinette's dress and forced her to show her during their lunch break. They said a quick hello to her parents on their way up to Marinette's room. The pink sundress that was on the dress form the day before was gone and had been replaced by one of the prettiest dresses Alya had ever seen.

"Wow!" Alya gasped when she first laid eyes on it. "You made this last night?!"

Marinette smiled humbly and started playing with her fingers. "Yeah," she said. "Well, technically this morning. I woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. This just came to mind and I figured, why not?"

"Girl, you keep surprising me!" Alya examined the red fabric and noted how professionally it was sewn together. "If this dress doesn't get Adrien to fall in love with you, then nothing will."

"I didn't make it to impress him," Marinette said. She wasn't entirely lying. That wasn't what it started out as, but she had to admit to herself that the further along she got with her design the more she wondered how Adrien would react to see it on her.

"Marinette, whether you made it for Adrien or not, you are going to be the envy of every girl at the dance tonight. Especially Chloe!"

She couldn't help but feel proud by that fact. Chloe had been her number one enemy for as long as she could remember, and the image of Chloe being jealous of Marinette made her extremely happy. Even if the night for her and Adrien turned out to be just two friends having fun, at least she'd have the satisfaction of beating Chloe.

"Come on," Marinette said, practically dragging Alya away from the red dress. "We need to head back to school."

"Okay. As long as we can grab some of those breakfast rolls you had me try this morning."

Marinette chuckled. "Whatever you say."


	4. Chapter 4

*Quick warning, lots of fluff in this chapter!*

 **Chapter 4**

Adrien didn't go home for lunch that day. He stayed on school grounds with Nino who was going on and on about Alya. He had asked her to the dance just a few days earlier and since then he'd been going back and forth about wearing his usual cap and headphones or leaving them behind.

"You should just wear them," Adrien said. "You could start a new fashion trend."

Nino gave his best friend a look. "That's easy to say coming from a model! The only way that trend would get started was if you wore it at your next photoshoot."

"You could come with me. I could convince the photographer to put it in the next issue," Adrien suggested. His photoshoots were usually pretty boring. The last time he actually had fun was when Stormy Weather attacked. He was looking forward to model with Marinette, but then his photographer spotted Manon. He did have fun with her, he was a bit disappointed by not getting to spend time with Marinette.

Nino laughed at the idea. "Nah, man. I'm not model material. I think I'll just stick to my tunes."

Adrien smiled, but it was empty. One day he might convince Nino to come with him. Adrien knew his father wouldn't care. He was never at the shoots himself, and the only way he would know Adrien's best friend would be there was if someone told him. Adrien was joking about Nino modeling, all he really wanted was someone to hang out with when he had breaks. The only person who possibly could tell would be Nathalie, but even she wouldn't risk that. Nathalie might seem harsh, but she was the reason why Adrien was in high school. If it wasn't for her he would still be a prisoner in his own home.

"So are you going to pull out all the stops for Marinette?" Nino asked.

"Huh?" Adrien asked, lost in thought. It took him a moment to figure out what Nino had said. "Oh. You mean like a limo? No."

"Why not?!" Nino wondered. "She'd be speechless, dude!"

Adrien didn't point out that Marinette was already speechless around him as it was. He didn't want to think about what would happen if a limo was brought into the mix. He decided to have his driver use one of the sedans to pick her up with. There was no reason to give her a heart attack.

Adrien smiled at Marinette and Alya when they returned back to campus. Alya waved back while Marinette's nerves tried to take control again. She was able to manage a wave and a smile, but her gestures were a bit awkward. Her reaction caused Adrien to let out a soft chuckle. She giggled as she relaxed. Marinette liked that he didn't think she was a total dork.

The two girls walked on inside and took a seat on a bench. "What did you finally decide to wear?" Marinette asked Alya. She was trying her best to get the attention off of her. She'd been broaching different subjects hoping one would stick.

"It's a yellow strapless dress," Alya answered, "and don't think you're getting off that easy. Do you think Adrien's picking you up in a limo?"

Marinette's eyes went wide at that thought. "Oh no," she muttered to herself. "I hope not." Being around Adrien was nerve-wracking enough, but being with him in a limo? That would send her into a full-blown panic attack.

"If he does, can I record your reaction? It'd be fun to show your kids one day," Alya joked.

"You are not recording me!" Marinette said. "And he's not taking a limo." A limo would be way too over the top for just a simple school dance. She hoped that Adrien wouldn't do something that extravagant.

As soon as classes were out Marinette rushed home to finish the dress. She was able to finish it quickly with Tikki's help. She slipped it on and zipped it up and was glad to find that it fit her like a glove. She didn't know why it surprised her. She cut it to her measurements. Maybe it was the excitement for the dance making her nervous.

"Oh, Marinette you are so beautiful!" Tikki praised. "It's your prettiest dress yet!"

Marinette twirled in front of her mirror. She loved the way the skirt flew up as she moved.

"You really think so?" Marinette asked.

"Absolutely!"

"Thanks, Tikki."

Marinette was still staring at herself in the mirror. She kept fiddling with the straps to make sure they were laying right but at this point she was nit-picking unimportant details. The silk draped over her body like a second skin, yet it wasn't too revealing or trampy. She looked older, more confident. She looked how she felt when she was Ladybug. Marinette then held her head high and exuded that same confidence and then suddenly the straps were laying perfectly. She smiled at her work then took it off while she got ready. Her hair was going to have hot curlers in it, so she wasn't risking anything that night.

Adrien stood in his room buttoning up a white dress shirt. Plagg was sitting on his dresser eating yet another piece of cheese, except instead of his usual camembert it was brie. Adrien didn't mind brie; it didn't have the same pungent order as camembert.

It took him a moment to realize that his hands were shaking as he finished up the last button on his shirt. Was he actually nervous? That was the last thing he expected to be. Sure, he could face down a dangerous villain no problem, but going on a date was what did him in. He took in a deep breath to help calm his nerves. He grabbed the simple silver tie from where it hung over his desk chair and put it on. He glanced over at his clock and saw that he still had ten minutes before he needed to leave to pick her up. The deep breath didn't work because it took him three tries to get his tie knotted. He wiped his hands on his pants to dry them off.

"Nervous, are we?" Plagg asked.

"Oh, you noticed that didn't you?" Adrien sarcastically replied. His nerves were getting the best of him. He picked up his jacket and slipped it on. "Do I look okay?"

"Why are you asking me?"

He gave his Kwami an irritated look then went to the mirror in his bathroom. He smoothed down his hair to make sure a strand wasn't out of place. He had never been this nervous for anything in his life before. Was it because it was his first dance ever? As soon as Adrien thought of that he knew that wasn't it. It was because of Marinette. Ever since he discovered she had feelings for him, it had changed his whole world view. He finally found the reason as to why she was so anxious around him. It was a mystery that had been bothering him for months. He had always been able to see her as more than just a quiet, shy girl. She had an amazing artistic talent and a great eye for design. She was confident and brave and not afraid to stand up for what she believed in. Adrien never realized that those were some of the same qualities that Ladybug had herself, but he knew Marinette. He knew who she was. She was the girl that he fell for without even knowing it. Some part of him had always had feelings for Marinette, but they were overwhelmed by his love for Ladybug. With the truth revealed those feelings were coming up to the surface and, despite the confusion it was bringing him, it was nice to fall for a girl he could really know.

"You ready to go, Plagg?" Adrien asked when he noticed the time.

"If I must." Plagg flew up and Adrien held his jacket open for his Kwami to fly into. The tiny catlike creature nestled into one of the inner pockets and got comfortable knowing he was going to be there for a good part of the night.

"Are you ready, Marinette?" Tikki asked from outside Marinette's bathroom door.

"I think so, Tikki," Marinette said. Tikki noted the slight tremor in her voice and couldn't help but smile. Her girl was so nervous, but she knew Marinette was going to rock it. Marinette walked out of the bathroom revealing her entire ensemble. She had decided to forgo her normal pigtails in favor of leaving it down and accentuated by soft curls expertly done by her mother. Tikki liked how Marinette left her makeup simple. Her bluebell eyes didn't need anything more than just a sweep of eyeshadow and mascara. On her feet were a pair of muted silver peep toe pumps that matched the jewelry set she borrowed from her mother. Tikki noted the height of the heels and she knew Marinette didn't just pick them because they matched the jewelry.

"Oh! Marinette!" Tikki sighed. "You are so gorgeous!"

"You really think so?" Marinette asked, still unsure of herself.

"I know so."

Marinette smiled warmly at her Kwami then scooped her up to hug her.

"Now come on! Adrien will be here any second!" Tikki told Marinette.

Marinette's eyes went wide as she checked the time. She rushed over to grab her bag. Inside she had her cell phone, a bit of cash for emergencies, make-up for touch-ups, and a small container of cookies for Tikki.

Marinette jumped when the bell for the bakery sounded. That had to be Adrien! Marinette bit her tongue to keep from squealing. Her excitement was almost to the tipping point. Tikki flew into Marinette's bag and secretly cheered her charge on.

"Marinette! Adrien's here!" her mother called from downstairs.

Her heart skipped a beat and she was frozen for a moment. Then she felt Tikki gently nudge her through the fabric of her bag and her strength surged. She strode out of her room and made it to the stairs. She specifically chose those shoes because the heels were low and significantly lessened the chance of her pummeling down the steps, but not everything was guaranteed. Marinette made it safely to the first floor without even coming close to tripping. She walked into the bakery's main room to find her parents standing across from Adrien. He was wearing a very sharp gray suit that complimented his green eyes perfectly. The sight of him made Marinette's heart skip a beat.

When Marinette walked into the room, Adrien was floored by how beautiful his date look. His eyes widened and he was pretty sure his jaw dropped. The first thing he noticed were the lack of pigtails. She left it down and curled it slightly, and he much preferred it that way. With her hair down she no longer looked like the awkward and timid girl in his class. Her bright blue eyes were wide as she stared at him. She wasn't shyly looking away or nervously looking around. She had completely transformed. Then his eyes went to her dress. He had never seen anything like it, and Adrien just knew that she made it herself. He glanced to the hem of her dress and he saw in the stitching her name sewn into the pattern she had done. The deep red silk set off her skin beautifully and really accentuated the dark color of her hair. The dress flowed over her body in a scarlet waterfall and ended to just above her knees. The dress was so simple, but that didn't take away from its beauty.

"Wow," he finally said after several moments of silence.

Marinette blushed as her parents chuckled.

"Now that's the speechless I was talking about," Tom muttered in an aside to his wife. Sabine smiled at her husband's comment then took a really long look at Adrien. They had only met him a couple times before, and he was always nice to them and to Marinette, but this time something was different about him. He was looking at her like he was seeing her for the first time. Sabine could practically see the boy falling in love right before her eyes. She looked over at her daughter and saw the way she was looking at Adrien and, call it mother's intuition, but she knew everything was going to go well that night.

" _Bonjour_ ," Marinette said quietly after Adrien's comment. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. It was a nervous habit she hadn't received until her crush on Adrien started. Marinette couldn't help but notice how much older he looked in that suit, and she suddenly felt very inadequate and juvenile. She could never compare to someone like him.

"You look…" Adrien breathed. He seemed at lost for words. "Wow. Just… Wow."

The Dupaine-Cheng family chuckled at him, and Adrien had to join in on the laughter. Usually he had no problem coming up with words and phrases on the fly, but seeing Marinette like that had fried whatever circuit that part of his brain was connected to.

He seemed to remember the bouquet of roses in his hand. They were pink, and he hoped that pink was her favorite color. He had noticed how Marinette always seemed to be wearing something with pink on it.

"Oh! I brought these for you. I hope you like them," he said shyly.

Marinette was surprised to see him acting… The only way she could describe it was he was acting like she normally did, except with less stuttering. She stepped forward and took the bouquet from him. She lifted the flowers to her nose and breathed in their sweet scent.

"They're beautiful," she told him. "Thank you."

"Not as beautiful as you," Adrien said, finding his words again.

His comment caused Marinette to blush a red that almost matched her dress. She ducked her head but looked up at him from underneath her lashes. Sabine took the flowers from her daughter and promised to find them a beautiful vase. She smiled at the two of them as they walked out of the bakery. Adrien never once took his eyes of their daughter. Tom put his arm around his wife and the two of them shared a knowing look.

Adrien looped his arm through Marinette's and led her outside. She let out a silent sigh of relief at the lack of a limo. She was glad to see it was the usual silver sedan that dropped him off and picked him up from school. Marinette recognized his driver, the Gorilla as Adrien called him. They slid into the backseat and despite the roomy interior the two of them sat extremely close to each other.

"Are you excited for tonight?" Marinette asked him.

He nodded. "Definitely. I've never been to a school dance before," he admitted. He seemed reluctant to mention the fact, but it wasn't a secret that he was new to the whole going to school thing. Marinette had figured that this was probably his first dance in his entire life.

"Well, don't try to build it up too much. Especially the whole dancing part. I'm probably going to step on your toes the entire night," Marinette warned him.

Adrien chuckled. He knew exactly how uncoordinated Marinette was, and he knew what he was getting himself into when he said yes to her offer. If he was going to the dance with Marinette, he was going with every aspect of her. That just so happened to include her clumsy side.

"Don't worry. I have enough coordination for the both of us," Adrien said with a smile.

Marinette chuckled softly. "Let's hope that coordination you have is enough to overpower my extreme clumsiness."

"You're not that clumsy," Adrien told her.

"That's sweet, but I really am. Do you want to know my most recent example? I ran into a light pole."

Adrien had to stifle the chuckle that threatened to erupt, but when he saw her smile it felt it was safe to laugh. Marinette liked the way he laughed, and joking about her clumsiness felt the easiest way to do it. She had no illusions about it. She knew how clumsy she was, as did everyone else.

"You can't be like that all the time," Adrien said when his laughter died down.

He was right about that. As Ladybug, her clumsiness seemed to vanish and was replaced by something more graceful and less accident prone. Tikki wouldn't tell her if that was part of the powers of Ladybug, but Marinette was sure it was.

"I hate to disappoint you but I am," Marinette lied. She hoped he couldn't tell she was hiding something.

"We shall see about that," Adrien said, challenging that fact.

Adrien and Marinette had been talking so intently they hadn't even noticed that the car was up in front of the school by then. They also hadn't even realized that the car hadn't been moving for several minutes. They jumped when the door was pulled open. Adrien got out of the car first then held out his hand for Marinette. Her heart skipped a beat when she placed her hand in his. He helped her out of the car but didn't let go of her. Marinette didn't say a word. She liked how their fingers were intertwined.

She had wished she had worn a jacket. The wind had picked up that night and blew sharply across the ground. Marinette instinctively moved closer to Adrien's side for warmth before realizing what she was actually doing. She was about to pull away but he put his arm around her shoulder. She looked up in surprise at his action. He smiled warmly at her, and now the chill of the air didn't feel that bad. Marinette grinned then leaned closer to Adrien's side as they walked up the front steps and into the main floor where the dance was set up.

They could hear the music from outside the door. He held the door open for her like the gentleman he was raised to be. She stepped inside and was immediately blown away by how non-school-like the school looked. There were multi-colored lights illuminating the dance floor and everyone on it. Yards of white tulle were hanging from the second floor railing and cascaded down to the floor. Behind the tulle someone had placed fairy lights to create a beautiful whimsical illusion. Marinette thought it looked beautiful, but Adrien was staring at the decorations with the widest smile she'd ever seen. His eyes were filled with childlike wonder. He had missed out on so much thanks to such a strict father. She suddenly felt personally responsible to make sure he didn't miss out on anything more.

No longer feeling nervous she wrapped her arm through his. "Let's go join our friends," Marinette suggested, pulling Adrien out of his reverie.

He looked down at her and seemed to remember why he was there. "Lead the way," he said, still smiling widely.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

For weeks the thought of his son being Cat Noir had plagued the mind of Gabriel Agreste. He had spent hours going over news footage of Cat Noir. He was looking for any mannerisms or gestures specific to his son. When he couldn't find any he boiled it down to the fact he didn't spend as much time with his son as he probably should. He knew this fact, and yet he couldn't do anything about it. It was extremely difficult to be around his son ever since Adrien's mother died. He was too much like her, and that was the problem. Adrien was thoughtful and caring, yet daring and strong just like her. Gabriel Agreste knew he wasn't any of those things, and he was glad that his son inherited her qualities instead.

Ever since the attack on him by Simonsayz he had been fairly certain that Cat Noir was his son. When Cat Noir had yelled at him, he sounded exactly like Adrien, and he was even more sure when he saw Adrien's ring. He had gotten a close look at Cat Noir's that day, and Adrien's was almost exactly the same. Gabriel wasn't sure when Adrien had started wearing the ring, but he knew that he never took it off even for photo-shoots. Adrien was never without it.

His son left for the dance half an hour ago, and during that half hour Gabriel struggled with what he had decided to do. He had always respected Adrien's privacy, and if Adrien found out he would never forgive him, but his curiosity was getting to him.

He went to Adrien's room and after hesitating outside the door he walked inside. The maids always tried to keep his room immaculate, but they weren't here every day so things did get missed. He saw some socks lying on the floor by the bed and a few shirts draped over a chair. Nothing out of the ordinary. He sighed as he looked around his son's room. He had always given Adrien everything he had ever wanted, yet he knew that it could never quite be enough. Despite the fact he didn't do any real snooping, Gabriel was soon struck with overwhelming guilt and hurried to the door. He passed by Adrien's computer and stopped where he was. Knowing how horrible he was being, he moved to sit down in front of it. He woke up the computer and was soon staring at the log in screen. He tried several possible passwords ranging from Adrien's birthday to his favorite TV show, all to no avail. He finally tried Adrien's mother's name and the desktop loaded with no difficulty.

At first glance there was nothing of import. He saw some files labeled by class and a link to the Ladyblog, but that wasn't odd. Gabriel Agreste knew Adrien was friends with the runner of the blog and figured he would keep up with it to support her. Gabriel clicked on a few random files and found nothing worthwhile. He was about to log off but then a certain file caught his eye. He opened it up and saw that it was his son's journal. The first entry dated back to when Mr. Agreste bought him the computer, but then he saw when the file was last updated. It was only two nights before.

Before he could stop himself Mr. Agreste clicked Print and sent the file to the printer in his office. He logged off and left his son's room just as he had found it. Once he had reached his office the journal had finished printing. He grabbed the pages and started skimming through them looking for any mention of Cat Noir or Ladybug. Gabriel froze when he reached some of the more recent entries. They dated back to a few months ago. More specifically to when he had snuck out to go to high school. His eyes scanned the pages in horror as Adrien explained in detail what had happened that day.

"I still can't believe what happened to me. I'm still trying to process it," Adrien had written. "I was finally given the chance to escape and just be myself. I was given this ring called a Miraculous. The ring is connected to a creature called a Kwami. His name is Plagg. He's kind of annoying and won't stop eating cheese, but he seems pretty okay.…" Gabriel's hands started to shake as he kept reading. His eyes didn't want to believe what was right in front of him.

"Plagg told me that I wasn't the only person who was given a one of these jewels," Mr. Agreste read. "She's was given the ladybug one and she's my partner. I met her today on our first mission, and she's really awesome. She's really clever and smart and I know it's crazy but I'm already head over heels for this girl! She calls herself Ladybug! If only I knew her real name, but it's too dangerous for either of us to know our real identities. She knows me as Cat Noir. I chose that name in honor of the fact my ring has the power of the black cat.…"

When the entries became too much Gabriel Agreste set the pages down and closed his eyes, wishing his eyes were deceiving him.

* * *

Plagg listened intently as Adrien and Marinette spoke on the way to the dance. He wasn't sure if Adrien was sensing it as well, but Plagg felt like the girl was awfully familiar. It wasn't from them having the same class together either, this was something deeper.

Soon after the two teenagers joined their friends the group of four decided to go out on the dance floor. Adrien left his jacket on the table and Marinette left her bag right next to it. Tikki and Plagg were literally inches from each other, yet only Plagg could sense his long lost best friend's presence. Tikki wasn't being as observant as Plagg that night. She was glad for the small reprieve this dance was bringing her and Marinette, and she was going to enjoy it.

Plagg, on the other hand, couldn't turn off his senses. His senses come from the feline so they were always working, even when he didn't want them to. Plagg knew what this meant, and he had suspected as much. His senses were much sharper than Adrien's, and if Adrien actually listened to his animalistic senses as Cat Noir he could've figured this out long ago. Plagg had always suspected that Marinette was Ladybug. They looked the same, sounded the same, and when she wasn't overwhelmed with nerves when around Adrien they acted the same as well. Plagg knew his senses could be wrong sometimes, but he just had to make sure. That was his reasoning for jumping out of Adrien's jacket and sneaking into Marinette's purse.

Tikki immediately froze when the latch to the bag opened from the outside. She knew Marinette was out on the dance floor and wasn't expecting her to check in for a little while. She relaxed and immediately became ecstatic when she saw that it was Plagg. She hasn't seen him in decades, not since the previous Ladybug and Cat Noir.

"Plagg?" The ladybug Kwami asked after the initial shock of him showing up had passed.

"Hey there, Tikks," Plagg greeted, using a nickname that had always annoyed Tikki, but she didn't even mind the nickname at that point. She was way too excited to see her long lost best friend. Tikki and Plagg had always been an odd, yet strangely perfect duo. They were two halves a whole, yin and yang so to speak. They'd been best friends for millennia and despite all his quirks and flaws Tikki still loved him.

She flew over excitedly and tackled him as she hugged the black cat Kwami. "What are you doing here?" Tikki asked as she squeezed him tightly. "You're supposed to be with Cat Noir! If he finds out you're gone—" She let go of Plagg as she started worrying about the superhero.

"But I'm not gone," Plagg said. "He's right here in this very room, and if you paid any attention you'd know this too."

Tikki didn't like his tone of voice, but she couldn't deny his senses. "So, he's really in here right now?"

" _Oui_!" Plagg said proudly. "Just give it some thought and you'll figure it out."

Tikki went through all the possibilities of Cat Noir's identity. The first person that came to mind was Adrien. She had suspected that it was Adrien for a long time, but the two boys were so different that the likelihood of this went down. Adrien was always so quiet and reserved while Cat Noir was… well Cat Noir. Though as Tikki thought about it, it made perfect sense. Tikki knew about the history with his father and growing up in such a strict environment would definitely lead him to be a shy person. Without his identity holding him down though, to put on a mask and be someone else, he could be whoever he wanted to be. He could be free. Cat Noir had said on multiple occasions to Ladybug about how he felt when he put on the suit. He had told her about the freedom he had and the struggle of living with an overbearing father. Tikki gasped when it all clicked in her head.

"Oh my gosh!" she exclaimed. "Adrien's Cat Noir!"

Plagg sighed exasperatedly when Tikki finally made the connection. "Took you long enough."

"We have to tell them!" Tikki squealed excitedly.

"You know we can't," Plagg reminded her sadly. Tikki pouted when she remembered the ancient laws. Kwamis were not allowed to reveal the identities of other miraculous wearers. Only the wearers were allowed to do that.

"But think about how happy they'll both be," Tikki said desolately. She knew about Cat Noir's crush on Ladybug, yet she had never told Marinette. She always thought it was something that Marinette should find out on her own, but Tikki knew somewhere inside that Marinette would never reciprocate his feelings. She would never go for Cat Noir because she loved Adrien, and Adrien won't ever truly love Marinette because he was in love with Ladybug. If they both just knew who each other were, that would solve that entire problem. Telling them would save each of their young hearts.

"I know," Plagg said, echoing Tikki's sadness. "I've seen that boy struggle over his love for Ladybug for literally days on end. It's enough to make me almost lose my appetite. I know how happy this would make them both, but we can't tell them. Besides they should know soon enough anyhow."

The two Kwamis peeked their heads out of Marinette's bag to check on their charges. The superheroes were on the dance floor in the very center. The DJ was playing a slow song at that moment. Adrien and Marinette were in a close embrace slowly swaying to the music. Tikki smiled wistfully at the two before saying a good-bye to Plagg who then flew back over to Adrien's jacket.

The two Kwamis hoped that Adrien and Marinette would figure it out soon before one or both was left heartbroken.

* * *

Adrien and Marinette were lost in their own world as the slow song continued to play. Marinette was merely enjoying the fact she was dancing with Adrien. It was something that she had been dreaming of for months. She had her arms around his neck with her hands interlocked. She had to constantly stop herself from running her fingers through his soft, blonde hair. His hands were on her hips, and with the thin material of her dress it was like he was touching her bare skin.

Marinette looked over Adrien's shoulder and saw Chloe and Sabrina standing off to the side of the dance floor. Sabrina was wearing a blue and green silk plaid dress that complimented her red-orange hair. Chloe had chosen a white lace sheath dress with a black belt around the waist and finished off the ensemble with yellow heels. Chloe's bright blue eyes were trained on Marinette and Adrien, and Marinette could practically see the steam coming out of her ears. She knew she would have to be on her toes that night. Chloe was very angry and was not above humiliating or hurting Marinette to get to Adrien.

"Are you okay?" Adrien asked when he noticed Marinette's slightly worried expression.

She looked up at him and saw his eyes staring at her worriedly. With her heels on they were almost the same height, so he didn't have to look down at her as much as he usually did.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Marinette said. "Why do you ask?"

Adrien shrugged. "No reason," he muttered, looking away.

"Are you having fun?" Marinette asked him. She hoped she wasn't being too boring for him. This was the longest she had ever hung out with Adrien, and she was starting to get worried that he would figure out she wasn't as exciting or interesting as he wanted her to be.

Adrien lit up at the question. "I'm having a great time," he said with a smile. "It feels amazing to be out and do something normal for once."

Marinette tried to hide how disappointed she was inside. Did he only come out with her because it was a normal teenage thing to do? Granted there was nothing wrong with that. It was just that Marinette was hoping he came out with her because he wanted to be with her and not because it was something teenagers did.

Despite her attempt to hide it, Adrien saw her face fell when he told her his answer. He thought over his words and immediately regretted them. He wasn't sure what she was thinking, but he sensed that she was doubting herself or something along those lines. Even without Plagg charging his Miraculous he still had some Cat Noir powers.

Adrien placed his fingers underneath her chin and tilted her head up to look him square in the eye. "What's wrong?" he asked her.

Instead of answering his question, she asked her own. "Why did you say yes to _me_? You turned down Chloe, literally your only friend for most of your life, but you said no to her. Why would you do that? I'm no one special, so why would say _yes_ to _me_?"

Adrien was stunned by her words. No one special? Did she really think so little of herself that she thought she was no one special? Adrien immediately came up with dozens of reasons as to why Marinette was definitely someone special. She had an amazing artistic talent. She had even designed an album cover for Jagged Stone. Adrien had his signed copy on his nightstand at that moment. She could design and create clothes that rivaled the best seamstresses and designers in Paris. She was funny and smart and brave and a million other things. Did she really not know these things?

"Because you're amazing, Marinette," Adrien finally told her.

Her eyes went wide at his statement. Her cheeks turned pink and her hands started shaking. She started playing with her fingers as she shyly looked away from him. She was letting her nerves and shyness get the better of her again.

"W-w-what?" she stammered. "I-I'm not—"

"You are though," Adrien said before she could say, or try to say, anything more. "Do you really not know this?" He was truly confused by this revelation. Was that why she never acted on her feelings before?

"I don't know," Marinette said without any stuttering. "I've never given it much thought, I guess. I just…" She sighed as words escaped her mind. "I could never be as amazing as you, Adrien. You're famous and a model and kind and funny and wonderful. I could never compare to you." She hung her head on her last words.

Adrien noticed that the song changed a while ago, but they were lost in their world. The music and fellow students around them seemed all so far away. Adrien lifted her head up again to make her look him in the eye. He was not going to let her keep thinking like that.

"Marinette, I don't have any artistic talent, nor such an eye for design as you. You are not afraid to stand up to Chloe, which is something everyone in class has trouble with. I've never designed anything for a world famous rock start, let alone a pair of customized sunglasses and an _album cover_! Marinette, _I_ can never compare to _you_. You are the one who is amazing here."

Marinette's brain went into a complete melt down at his words. She stood there in stunned silence as her mind tried to comprehend what he had told her. He thought she was amazing? That didn't make any sense to her. He was the one who had a famous fashion designer for a father. Adrien was the model; she was the school girl. All the evidence pointed to the fact that Adrien was far above her, yet he was saying the opposite.

Adrien was actually a little afraid when Marinette didn't say anything for a few moments. He knew how she reacted when he was with her, and he probably should've thought over his words to come up with something a little less surprising. Marinette had enough trouble focusing when she was near him, and now Adrien was convinced that he went too far.

"Marinette," he said timidly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she answered in a dazed voice. "Yes. I'm fine." A small smiled appeared on her lips as she spoke. "You really think all that?"

He smiled and nodded. " _Oui_. I do."

Marinette couldn't stop smiling. All this time, and he was the one who thought she was amazing. She had never asked him out earlier because she thought he wouldn't be interested or think she was boring. It turned out it was the exact opposite.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Adrien and Marinette were practically inseparable for the rest of the night. His words gave Marinette a huge boost in confidence. She felt like she could take on the world. Alya had noticed the change in her best friend's demeanor and was definitely going to get to details on that later. She had noticed them talking very intently out on the dance floor, and, to be honest, she thought they were going to kiss. They didn't, much to her disappointment, but they were finding more excuses to be near each other during the rest of the dance. They weren't holding hands or being all lovey-dovey towards each other, but they were dancing closer to each other and moving their chairs so that they were almost touching.

Alya had noticed that Chloe hadn't taken her eyes off the couple the entire night. She recognized that look in her blue eyes and knew that Chloe was going to be up to no good later that night.

Alya went over to her date and decided to enlist his help. They were both rooting for Adrien and Marinette to get together and nothing was going to stop that from happening, not on Alya's watch. She kept an eye on Chloe while Nino kept an eye on Sabrina.

Halfway through the dance Nino spotted Chloe whispering closely to Sabrina who then disappeared behind the tulle and didn't reappear for at least five minutes. When she came back she stood next to Chloe who gave her a proud smile.

He whispered his suspicions to Alya, who narrowed her eyes at the troublesome duo.

"What are they up to?" Alya speculated.

Nino shook his head. "No idea, but it can't be good."

"Let's hope they don't have something horrible planned for Marinette," Alya whispered.

Excusing themselves from the table, and leaving a confused Marinette and Adrien behind, Alya and Nino set out on their investigation. They stayed out of sight of Chloe and Sabrina so they wouldn't catch on to what they were doing. Alya checked the girl's bathroom to make sure there wasn't anything set up on one of the toilets or in the sink. All was clear in there. Nino checked the lockers and nothing was set up in there either. Soon they had checked the entire first floor. They had opened all the doors and checked for trip wires in every place they could possibly be. They had found nothing and Alya was starting to believe that Chloe decided to play it cool that night, which was way out of character for her.

"Look, we've checked every place where Chloe could hide a prank for Marinette," Nino said. "I don't think she has anything planned."

"Then why were the two of them being so secretive? Look at her now! She won't stop staring at them!" Alya pointed to Chloe who was sitting two tables away from Marinette and Adrien. Chloe had been looking at Marinette with a mischievous and conniving glint in her eye ever since Sabrina disappeared for a little while earlier. Alya just knew that Chloe had something planned, if only Alya could figure out what.

The dance was starting to wind down by that point, and a majority of the students were leaving or about to leave. Alya started looking around for Sabrina. She hadn't been seen in over half an hour. She started scanning the room for any sign of the red-haired accomplice, but she was gone. She would never go home while Chloe was still there, not by a long shot. That could not be good.

"Where do you think Sabrina went?" Nino asked when Alya mentioned that fact.

"Somewhere not good," Alya muttered worriedly.

Nino nudged Alya's arm. "Look, they're about to leave," Nino said. He pointed to their two best friends and noticed that they were gathering their things. "Hopefully whatever torture Chloe has planned isn't set up yet."

"I can only hope so," said Alya quietly so their friends wouldn't hear.

Adrien and Marinette walked up to Nino and Alya to tell them goodnight. Alya saw that Marinette was wearing Adrien's jacket. It didn't surprise the young journalist since it had gotten very chilly outside and Marinette's dress didn't offer much warmth.

"Where did you guys go?" Marinette asked them. "You were gone for like half an hour."

"Oh!" Alya exclaimed. "Um." She hesitated in giving Marinette an answer. She didn't want to ruin her best friend's seemingly perfect night with a possibility of humiliation from Chloe.

"We went for a walk," Nino lied easily. "Yeah. I let her listen to some of my new mixes and she told me some stuff about she's planning on posting on the Ladyblog." Alya was impressed by Nino's quick thinking. She would've high-fived him if they were alone.

Adrien and Marinette shared a glance but then shrugged. Neither of them believed Nino's story, but they didn't say anything to them.

"Alright," Adrien said with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, bro." Adrien held out his fist and Nino bumped it in their usual fashion.

Alya moved to Marinette and hugged her tightly. "You better give me all the details tomorrow, Marinette," Alya whispered in her best friend's ear.

Marinette sighed but ended it with a smile. "I promise, Alya," she told her.

"Good," Alya said as she pulled away. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Have a great night, guys," Marinette said.

Marinette and Adrien headed for the door, but just before he held it open for her Marinette gasped.

"Wait, my bag!" she exclaimed, thinking about Tikki. She could not believe she almost forgot Tikki! Marinette took a step towards their table, but Adrien gently grabbed her arm to stop her.

"I'll get it for you," he offered.

"Thank you," Marinette said gratefully. "I'll meet you outside?"

He nodded. "Definitely. Be back in a sec."

Marinette opened the door and recoiled from the cold. The pressure difference caused air to blow against her. She hugged Adrien's jacket tighter around her body as she took a step outside. She closed her eyes took in a deep breath of Paris's cool night air. It was a nice reprieve from the stuffiness of the dance. She stood there enjoying the feeling of the night air on her skin.

With her eyes closed she did not notice that she was being watched. Sabrina hid in the bushes waiting for this opportunity. She held a small string in her hand which if Marinette had looked to her right she would have seen, but she didn't. Sabrina smiled evilly has she let go of the string. The bucket set up earlier in the night tipped over with nothing holding it up any longer. Gallons of water fell freely dumping onto Marinette. She screamed in surprise and couldn't move out of the torrent of water as it endlessly fell on her head. She couldn't breathe as the water fell on her. When the water was finally gone Marinette was left stunned and embarrassed and enraged. The doors behind her opened and a group of students who heard her scream stopped where they stood. Some were horrified while others, mainly friends of Chloe, were smirking and forcing back chuckles.

"We totally gotcha!" Sabrina said as she walked out from her hiding place.

Chloe, appearing out of nowhere, strutted up to her best friend's side feeling very proud of herself.

"That's what you get for taking Adrien away from me," Chloe gloated gleefully.

Marinette was on the verge of tears as she stared at Chloe.

"Oh, and by the way?" Chloe continued. "This is being uploaded live to the school's blog so everyone can see how pathetic you really are! Kim! Come on out!"

Marinette turned and saw Kim who had appeared from behind an advertisement with a camera in his hand. She was horrified as she stared at the camera in his hands. He was obviously holding back laughter as he kept recording Marinette.

Chloe's friends didn't even try to hold back their laughter anymore. The thought of Marinette being ridiculed for weeks on end was apparently too funny for them to hide it. Marinette closed her eyes as the first tears fell. She was grateful that the water hid it from everyone. Everything was ruined, her makeup, her dress, her entire night… Her tears started flowing faster with no sign of stopping. She wasn't angry anymore, though she wanted to be. She wanted to run at Chloe and claw at her face, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it.

"What is going on?!" a new voice demanded.

Marinette looked up to see the small crowd that had gathered part to reveal Adrien holding her purse and staring at the students with a glare that meant not to mess with him. The light from the dance haloed around Adrien giving him the appearance of an avenging angel. Alya and Nino appeared behind him with the same confused expression. When Adrien's eyes landed on Marinette his expression softened then got hard again as the realization came to him. He turned his eyes on Chloe as Nino and Alya rushed over to Marinette.

"Chloe, what did you do?" he asked in cold, calculated voice.

Alya helped Marinette out of the sopping wet jacket. It was dripping and weighed twice as much as it did before. Marinette started shivering when her damp skin hit the cold air. Involuntarily her teeth started chattering and she wished to be near Adrien. Nino took off his own jacket and gave it to Marinette to help her keep warm. No one noticed the tiny black cat discreetly switch to the warm and dry jacket. Alya put her arms around her best friend then started rubbing her shoulders to make sure she didn't freeze to death.

Chloe shrugged. "Nothing she didn't already deserve," she said casually. That was odd. Usually when speaking to Adrien she at least tried to make herself the victim.

Adrien was stunned. He glanced over at his date who had been crying the entire time. He suddenly got filled with a hot rage that he had never felt before.

" _Chloe, this has got to stop_!" he yelled at her. This took everyone by surprise. He had never yelled at anyone, not ever, especially not at Chloe. "Marinette has never done anything to deserve something as horrible as this!"

"Yes she did!" she argued. "She stole you away from me! She deserves it!"

Adrien didn't even hesitate when he said his next words. " _I was never yours, Chloe_!" he roared. "You are delusional in thinking that I could ever be with you, especially after something like this! I have put up with _a lot_ over the years, but I am _done_! I am totally, and _absolutely done_! You are cruel and vicious and spiteful and that won't ever change! You will never hurt Marinette again, do you understand me? Not while I am around. Goodbye, Chloe." Adrien stomped away from her then over to Marinette. He wrapped his arm protectively around her then led her down the block to where the car was parked.

He opened the door, helped her inside, and then climbed in himself. He set Marinette's bag down on the seat then shut the door. Adrien leaned forward and told his Gorilla to just start driving. Adrien didn't care where. He turned on the heated seats and then made sure the air was blowing hot. He reached under the seats and pulled out a box labeled 'Emergency.' Inside there was some basic first aid, but also a ton of other supplies for various other emergencies ranging from a wardrobe mishap to a flat tire. Behind the emergency box was a towel that for once Adrien was grateful to have.

Marinette was still crying, though she didn't know why. She couldn't stop herself even though she wanted to. Marinette was floored by Adrien going off on Chloe like that. He did it for her. He protected her.

"Here," Adrien said, handing her the towel.

"Thank you," she muttered. She took the towel and started scrunching her hair to mop up the water. She tried to soak up some water from her dress, but the material was thin, and it would be dry soon enough. Luckily the fabric she used wasn't dry clean only. It should not have had twenty gallons of water dumped on it, but it wasn't totally ruined. It could be salvageable. She realized she was still wearing Nino's jacket. It was already starting to get a little damp. Hopefully it wasn't ruined like Adrien's jacket most likely was.

Adrien pulled out a face wipe and gave it to her. She gently took it from him and attempted to clean up her makeup, but without a mirror she wasn't making much progress.

"Here, let me," Adrien offered with a small smile.

She let out a soft chuckle. "I guess I'm hopeless, huh?" she asked.

"Believe it or not, I probably have more experience in this department than you," he joked.

Marinette giggled. He probably did with his modeling career. He gently wiped her eyes and cheeks to clean up her ruined mascara. It only took him a few quick swipes. She tried not to focus on the fact that Adrien's lips were only inches away from hers. Instead she focused on trying to keep her breathing steady.

"There," he said when he was done. "Good as new." He leaned away a bit and that gave her room to actually breathe.

She blushed and ducked her head, but then looked up at him from underneath her lashes. "So, um, thank you, for what you did back there," she said softly.

He shook his head and smiled. "It's no problem, Marinette. What Chloe did was horrible. You didn't deserve it," he said kindly. He reached over and grasped her hand when he noticed she was still shivering. He made sure their fingers were interlocked.

"I've never heard you speak to her like," Marinette continued, staring down at their hands. "In fact I've never heard you speak to anyone like that before."

He shrugged. "I've always known that Chloe is a bit harsh, but I never thought she would go that far," Adrien said. "When I saw you and I saw her, it made me realize how cruel she had become. She might have been my friend once upon a time, but she's not the same person I used to know."

"But still, not everyone would've done what you did. A lot of people aren't willing to stand up to her. Thank you," she said again, finally looking up at him.

"You're welcome," he said gently. Adrien looked down at their hands which were still intertwined. He looked back up at her with a smile on his face. "I had a great time tonight."

She raised an eyebrow. "Even with the impromptu waterfall?"

Adrien chuckled. "Even with the impromptu waterfall," he told her. "It was a lot of fun hanging out with you. We don't really get to do it that often."

Marinette shrugged. "I guess we don't. I think we should though," she said cautiously. She was still trying to gauge Adrien's fondness of her, even though she knew she shouldn't be questioning it. His defending her should've released any doubt in Marinette's mind that he liked her, but there was still that whiff in the back of her mind that would not go away.

"I agree," Adrien said. "Tonight has been one of the best nights I have had in a long time, and it's all because of you, Marinette."

She smiled as she looked down to hide her blush. She held his hands tighter in hers. They were still slightly cold from being outside and he was incredibly warm. Suddenly he removed one of his hands and reached up to brush back a damp lock of hair that had fallen in front of her face. His fingertips brushed lightly on her skin, sending tiny sparks of electricity surging through her body. He trailed his fingers down her cheek and under chin to tilt her head up. Her heartbeat was pounding so fast she was sure that Adrien could hear it in the quiet of the cabin. He moved his hand down to her neck. Marinette knew they were only inches away from kissing, but she didn't want to think about it too much. If she did her nerves might have taken over and ruin the moment.

"Is it okay?" he whispered, breaking the silence.

"Of course," she whispered back.

Adrien didn't hesitate any longer. He placed both his hands on the side of her face then bent down and lightly placed his lips on hers. At first the realization that Adrien was kissing her exploded in Marinette's mind. Her heart raced and time slowed. She took in every detail. His lips were soft and warm and tasted like the punch from the dance. His hands were soft on her bare skin and where he touched her it felt like fire. Marinette could feel the space between them and it was too far. She reached up and grasped Adrien's dress shirt in her hands as he pulled away to break the kiss. Marinette didn't want it to end. She moved forward and kissed Adrien again. She was being bolder than she had ever thought possible. Adrien wasn't expecting her to react like that, especially from shy and timid Marinette, but he responded immediately.

Marinette moved her hands to wrap around Adrien's neck and gripped his honey blonde hair in her hands as she had been wanting to do that entire night. Adrien moved his hands down so they were holding onto her waist. His grip was tight on her body. He never held onto her too hard, but he was no longer being the careful gentleman as he was earlier that night. She moved her hands from his hair to his shoulders. She could feel his muscles tense under her touch and she thought she was going too far, but as she pulled away Adrien let out a faint sound that was similar to a growl then he started kissing her more passionately than before.

She was surprised by his suddenness, and it threw her off guard. Adrien immediately tried to apologize but she shut him up by kissing him again. As Marinette kissed Adrien, she couldn't help but feel like everything was being set into place. She knew they were made for each other. She also knew Adrien could sense that as well. They were two halves of a whole. It had all clicked into place by that first kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

*Hi everyone! I hope you've been enjoying the story so far! I would like to thank everyone for the reviews I have received. They are greatly appreciated! So thank you again and keep the reviews coming! You guys are awesome! Anyways, enjoy Chapter 7!

 **Chapter 7**

Marinette and Adrien were forced to end their make-out session when the car hit a speed bump. She fell backwards and managed to catch herself before she hit her head on the window. Adrien then silently cursed his driver for choosing a road with speed bumps, but then quickly turned his attention to Marinette. She looked like she was about to explode with joy. Her blue eyes were wide and brighter and her cheeks were flushed.

"Um," she quickly said, smiling like a mad woman. "I-I… um." Her hands fluttered up to her hair. She started playing with a lock of it as the reality of what just happened between them hit her like she ran into a brick wall. Marinette couldn't form a sentence to save her life.

Adrien shook his head as he smiled as she reverted back to her old habits. He thought that now they had finally kissed she might've gotten past it. He came to the possible conclusion that Marinette might always react like that around him.

"Do you wanna get something to eat?" Adrien asked her, hoping to get her mind off of what just happened so she could focus.

"I would love to," Marinette said clearly with no sign of a stutter anywhere. She was relieved to have found her voice again.

Adrien rolled down the partition that neither of them had noticed had been put up. He leaned forward and said the name of a restaurant Marinette had never heard of before.

"Wait, what time is it?" Marinette asked, looking around for a clock. There couldn't be too many places open that late at night. She found her bag sitting on the seat behind Adrien. He grabbed it and handed it to her. She opened it up, gave Tikki a tiny smile who was just grinning hugely at her girl. She pulled out her phone and checked the time. It was almost eleven pm, yet no text messages from her parents. Not even a missed call. She completely expected them to be checking in on her periodically. For once they were actually staying out of it.

"Don't worry," Adrien said, seemingly reading her mind. "I know this place will be open." He gave her a sly smile and relaxed in the seat. Something about his movements combined with the smile seemed familiar to her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She shook off the thought. It would come to her eventually.

"What about me?" she asked. "I probably look horrible." She glanced down at her mostly dry dress. The fabric was a little stiff and the silk wasn't as pretty as it was before. She was sure her hair wasn't much better. She never got the chance brush through it, though Adrien did help with that some. She blushed as she remembered the feeling of his hands running through her hair.

"You look perfect," Adrien said with a warm smile.

She knew he was lying, but Marinette let him believe it.

The car stopped after another ten minutes of driving. She looked out the tinted windows but the streetlamp they were parked next to did little to alleviate the darkness out there. She had never been to a part of the city that was this dark. That was part of the reason she loved Paris; it was the City of Light.

His driver held the door open for her and Adrien. The Gorilla waited out in the car. Marinette was a little worried about him being out there all alone, but it seemed like a nice enough neighborhood, besides he could handle himself. She had nothing to worry about.

Marinette looked up at the store front's name. Yin and Yang Café. She wasn't sure if Adrien was correct in his assumption that this place was open. The windows were pitch black and the closed sign was up.

Adrien walked forward but stopped when he noticed Marinette was still on the sidewalk.

"Are you sure we can go in?" Marinette asked when he turned back.

He nodded. "Positive. Come on. This place is great," he said with a reassuring smile.

"Okay," Marinette said slowly, still unsure. Adrien opened the door and a little bell just like the one at her parent's bakery dinged with the motion. Once they stepped inside the lights turned on. There must have been a motion sensor or something in there. With the café illuminated she could really see the appeal of the restaurant. It had a very simple charm that immediately made Marinette feel at home. The design of the café reminded her of the French countryside. The tables and chairs had been painted a pastel blue with a complimentary patterned yellow fabric on the seat cushions. They paired well the antique cream walls and pastel watercolor landscapes hung up around the café.

"Are you sure it's okay that we're here?" Marinette asked. She still wasn't sure if they had permission to be there.

"Definitely," Adrien said without hesitation. He strode forward and disappeared to the kitchen. He came back with a covered baking dish. Now she was really confused.

"What is this?" she asked as he set the baking dish on a small table that was already set up with dishes and flatware.

"This is our first date," Adrien said with a timid smile.

"I'm sorry? This is our what?" She was becoming a little speechless again. How many times could that happen in one day?

"Our first date," he repeated. "I know the owner of this place, Fiona Genet. She used to be our personal chef before my father fired her. We still keep in touch though, and when I told her about the dance she wanted to do something special. So she made us this."

Marinette warily stepped forward trying to catch a whiff of the scent. "What is it?"

Adrien shrugged. "I have no idea," he said with a small chuckle. "She said it was a surprise. There could be anything in there."

"Okay, now I'm scared," Marinette said, holding back giggles.

"On three?" Adrien asked, placing his hand on the lid.

Marinette placed her hand over his. "Three."

" _Un_ , _deux_ , _trios_!" they said together. On three Marinette and Adrien lifted the lid of the baking dish. Inside was a scrumptious looking _Tartiflette_. It smelled even better.

"Wow! This smells amazing!" Marinette exclaimed. She leaned forward to get a better whiff of the cheesy potato dish.

"Shall we eat?" Adrien suggested.

"We shall," she said with a smile.

Adrien held out her chair for her. She gave him a big smile at the action. He quickly moved to other side of the table and started dishing up their dinner. The two ate quickly. The two teenagers were both ravenous from the night's events.

Adrien felt strangely liberated that night. He thought it was from finally putting Chloe in her place, but that wasn't it. It was Marinette. Kissing her, and having her kiss him back made him realize how much he cared for her. She had an effect on him that Ladybug had never given him, and she probably never would. He looked at her from across the small table and realized that while she was beautiful when he picked her up for the dance, seeing her like that with a fresh face and wide blue eyes while telling a story about her favorite TV show, she was absolutely gorgeous! He watched her talk as he ate quietly. She was very expressive he thought to himself. She used her arms a lot when she talked, and her face never stayed the same expression for more than a second. He couldn't believe that she ever thought for a second that she was boring. She was the most exciting person he knew.

Marinette took notice of how quiet Adrien was being while they ate, but never once did she believe that he was getting bored. His green eyes were always on her. He would smile or laugh at something she had said and that would give her a big boost in confidence. She knew she was talking a lot, but she had a lot of time to catch up on. It was like it was all coming out in one evening.

All too soon the cheesy potatoes were gone, and it was getting close to midnight. Marinette knew she should be heading home, but she didn't want to leave. It wasn't until she got a text from her parents that finally caused her to end the night.

They cleaned up the mess they had made then headed out to the car. She continued to talk on the drive back to her house, but this time she gave Adrien some chances to enter the conversation. They talked animatedly about various video games and movies. Adrien mentioned some places around the world that he had visited, and despite Marinette's fascination and want for details, he couldn't give her any. Adrien was always there with his father for business trips. Whatever parts of the foreign cities he actually saw was from the window of a car or a hotel room.

"I'd love to go back to some of those places one day. You know and see them properly," Adrien told her, lightly grasping her fingers and playing with them.

"I've always wanted to travel. The furthest I've gone is Belgium. It was great to get out of the country, but I want go further! I want to go to a different continent, maybe across an ocean!"

"Oh! You should see New York City!" Adrien sighed with a wide, wistful smile. "Paris might be the City of Lights, but New York is the City that Never Sleeps."

Marinette smiled at their hands intertwined together. Seeing him be this expressive about something was a nice change of pace. He had never been like that around her, well around anyone to be honest. He was probably like this around Nino since those two boys hung out all the time, but that was the only person Adrien had been real close with ever since he started school with them.

"One day, I'll go back and set things straight," Adrien said, continuing their conversation on New York. "The last time I visited… let's just say I didn't have a good time on my last visit. The trip didn't end well." His eyes darkened as his memories came back to him.

"What happened?" Marinette asked worriedly. She gripped his hand tighter hoping to comfort him.

Adrien shook off the thought and looked up at her with a smile. She knew it was fake but didn't call him out on it. "Never mind. It's in the past. There's no point in dwelling on it."

Marinette tried to smile back, but all she could manage was something vague and bland. She didn't like how dark Adrien's expression had become when he talked about the last time he was in New York. Now she was curious as to what happened back then. She would respect his privacy of course, but that didn't mean she couldn't wonder.

All too soon the car was pulling up to the door of her house. Adrien helped her out and walked her to the door.

"I had a great time tonight, Adrien," Marinette said when they reached the door.

"Me too, Marinette"

Their voices were soft as they spoke. Neither one of them could take their eyes off each other.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow?" Marinette asked him hopefully.

"Definitely," he said with a smile.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do. She wanted to kiss him goodnight, but was that what he wanted? She looked up into his eyes and that gave her the answer she needed. They leaned toward each other and kissed for the second time that night. Marinette parted her lips immediately and Adrien responded. That kiss was different from the ones they shared earlier. That kiss was deep and soft and familiar while before it was something new and exciting and exhilarating.

He pulled away to unwillingly break the kiss between them. Adrien kissed her quickly one last time before heading back to the car. Marinette was dazed as she watched him walk away. Without turning around she reached for the doorknob. She opened it up and slowly made her way inside. She shut the door and sighed as she rested her back against the wood. She bit her lip as she replayed the night's events in her head. Her head was spinning from all the emotions pulsing through her. That night turned out to be something even her imagination couldn't conceive.

"How'd it go?" Tom asked, surprising his daughter. Sabine appeared by his side with a huge grin on her face.

Marinette yelped at the suddenness of her father's appearance.

"Papa! You gave me a heart attack! And don't pretend you and Mom weren't watching from the window," Marinette said.

Her parents shared a look and shrugged. "We can't hide anything from her," Tom said.

Sabine ran forward to give her daughter a huge hug. "He kissed you! Are you guys dating now? Tell us everything! And what happened to your dress?" Sabine asked when she noticed Marinette's appearance. "What happened to you?"

"Oh," Marinette muttered, lifting a lock of hair and dropping it with a sigh. "Water bucket prank, Chloe, Adrien standing up for me." She smiled on those last words, but it was soon taken over by a yawn. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

She hugged her parents before making her way upstairs. All she wanted to do was to get out of the dress, put on her comfiest pajamas, and fall asleep, but she had to write down the night's events before her mind forgot. She didn't want to ever forget about that night. Marinette opened her bag and Tikki flew out squealing in excitement. She had been holding it in since their very first kiss.

"You finally did it, Marinette! It finally happened!" Tikki squealed.

"Shh! Tikki! My parents are still awake," Marinette whispered. "But oh my gosh! It finally happened! We finally kissed! It was like a dream come true!" Marinette spun around in her desk chair feeling like she was on Cloud Nine at the moment.

After sharing a few more excitement moments with Tikki Marinette went back to her diary. She scribbled the night's events down as quickly as she could so she'd always have the memories with her. Marinette changed out of the ruined silk dress and into something way more comfortable. She collapsed on the bed and fell asleep quickly.

Nothing could've brought Adrien down he was so ecstatic. He ran up to his room and took Plagg out of his pocket. He was still shivering from the whole water ordeal. He'd been inside the jacket when Marinette got the water dumped on her. Only Adrien had noticed the Kwami switching jackets as her friends helped her.

"I'm so proud of you, Adrien!" he said, his voice shaking from all the vibrating he was doing. "I mean, cheese is still better, but come on! You were on fire tonight!"

"Thanks, Plagg," Adrien said. Plagg went over to a couple of Adrien's shirts and made himself a little nest while Adrien went over to his computer and immediately opened up the journal he kept on there. He didn't have a written journal. It was too risky to keep one with the housekeeper always in and out of his room on a weekly basis. Besides he could type faster than his hands could write which really helped when he was trying to get information down as fast as he could. He started a new entry and basically went through the entire night minute by minute. Adrien didn't leave a single detail out.

Adrien tried to fall asleep once he was done, but he was still coming down from the excitement of the day's events. He dozed off a few times but in the end he ended up just lying in bed staring up at the ceiling. He thought about doing an impromptu patrol, but Plagg was still recovering from the assault of the water. He hadn't left his little nest in hours. Normally Adrien would just think he was being lazy as usual, but he really didn't look good earlier in the night.

Adrien decided to change his scenery and went to his couch. He stared out his window which had a wonderful view of Paris that he hadn't been able to truly enjoy until that night. For once Plagg didn't make a snarky comment about Adrien falling for a girl. He was too busy trying to recover from the horrifying ordeal that the water caused him, of course those were Plagg's words not Adrien's.

"How you doing, Plagg?" Adrien asked after a little while.

"Not good," he said, but he sounded like he was laying it on a little thick. "That water really took a lot out of me."

Adrien leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "I'm curious, as Cat Noir would I have the same reaction to water as you?"

"Not as bad," Plagg told him as he reached for another wedge of cheese he had piled up beside him. "But yeah. It's the whole feline thing. Cat's don't like water."

"So, what you're saying is I'd be useless during a light drizzle," Adrien surmised.

"Well not useless, you can do a lot of fighting from underneath an umbrella," Plagg joked.

"Oh, ha ha."

Adrien paused as his mind thought about what Plagg had said. Would water really be that much of a hindrance to him? He didn't like the thought of Ladybug fighting out there all on her own just because he was stymied by a light shower.

"Is that something I should be concerned about?" Adrien asked after a few moments.

Plagg shook his head. "Nah. I was just kidding. You'd be uncomfortable, but you could still fight just fine."

Adrien let out a sigh of relief. He couldn't let Ladybug fight on her own just because he'd be incapacitated by rain. That'd be the stupidest way to lose yet. He looked over at his Kwami. He was looking better, and it only took four containers of camembert to get him that way.

He sighed and relaxed back onto his couch to go back to his window staring. He could see the top of Eiffel Tower in the distance and started thinking about all the villains that had chosen that spot to have their final showdown, including Volpina. That was a really odd day. He thought for sure that she had a Miraculous, but he was wrong. Usually he had better senses than that. Ladybug knew though. She always knew. She didn't know that the "Adrien" Volpina had captured wasn't really him, but Adrien couldn't blame Ladybug for that mistake. She didn't know that Adrien and Cat Noir were the same person.

Adrien had thought about telling her that day. When she came back to check on him, he had the full intention of revealing his identity. He had only a minute left on his Miraculous, and normally he would've changed back immediately. Not that time, though. He hadn't realized he had made the decision until he was already doing it. He was ready to finally reveal who he was. If only she had stayed a few seconds longer she would know by then. He couldn't dwell on that any longer. That was weeks ago, and he realized he shouldn't tell her who he was. At least for a while. He had a feeling that they would find out one day, but there was no rush.

He leaned forward when Adrien saw a familiar figure swinging through the city. He smiled dreamily out the window.

"Plagg, you feel up to patrolling?" Adrien asked.

"Awww, man! Really?" Plagg whined. "After that traumatic experience I've been through? I think I need at least a week to recover! And maybe five pounds of cheese to help my poor, traumatized body!"

Adrien sighed and shook his head at him. Plagg could do Shakespeare he was so dramatic. "You'll be fine for patrol. Plagg, Claws Out!"

An unwilling Plagg got sucked into Adrien's ring and within seconds Adrien had transformed into Cat Noir. He opened up his window and vaulted himself out into the night to catch up with his lady.

Marinette had woken up in the middle of the night with just over an hour until the sun rose. She tried to go back to sleep but was too wound up. Marinette woke Tikki and easily convinced her to do a quick patrol. She transformed into Ladybug and swung out into the night. As she traveled through Paris the night's events unfolded in her mind. The dance, the prank, the kiss, it all came back to her, and it was amazing! She swung for miles just letting her emotions out. She somehow ended up at the Eiffel Tower. She went up to the top platform and sat down. She rested her head on a metal railing while looking out over her hometown. Ladybug knew that she would never get used to that feeling. She felt like she could do anything.

"Well hello, my lady," Cat Noir said. Ladybug turned and all she saw were a pair of large, green cat eyes staring at her. He stepped out into the light and sat down next to her. Their legs dangled out over the edge, yet neither of them were scared of the height. "What are you doing out here? I thought we decided to take the night off."

"I couldn't sleep," Ladybug said with a huge smile. "What about you?"

"I'm a cat. At night I rule," he joked.

Ladybug rolled her eyes, but gave him a smile.

"I couldn't sleep either," Cat Noir explained with a dreamy smile. Ladybug immediately wanted to know what that was about.

She nudged him lightly with her elbow. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Ladybug asked, hoping he'd give her some details.

His cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink as he hesitated telling her. Ladybug grew more excited. He never blushed! Ever! So what was making her kitty blush?

"Did you have a date?" she asked teasingly.

Cat Noir awkwardly reached up and rubbed the back of his head. If he did that anymore times he would have a bald spot back there.

"Yeah. I did," he said vaguely. Usually it was her being vague, now it was the other way around.

"I'm gonna say it went well, am I right?" Ladybug guessed.

Cat Noir nodded. "It went great," he said with a wide smile.

"Is it serious? Do you like her?"

He smiled dreamily. "Yeah," he said, looking surprised by his answered. "I really do."

"And she likes you?" Even though he made really bad jokes and never stopped making puns, Ladybug knew that Cat Noir was a great person. He was brave and kind and funny… on occasion. What girl wouldn't fall for that?

He nodded. "Definitely."

"I'm happy for you, Cat," Ladybug said honestly.

"Now let's talk about you, my lady," Cat Noir said, changing the subject. He knew that if they stayed on the subject of Marinette too long then he would slip up and mention something that would reveal his identity. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"I actually woke up early," Ladybug corrected. "I just couldn't fall back to sleep."

"Nightmare?" Cat Noir asked, but that didn't make sense considering how dazed and happy she looked when he arrived.

She shook her head. "Nope. Too excited."

"Excited about what?"

She bit her lip as she thought over telling him. She tried to keep as much of her personal life secret, even from him. She knew that if she started to tell him about her date she wouldn't be able to stop. When it came to Adrien her mouth had no filter.

"It's nothing," she said. "Well not nothing. Today something happened that I have been dreaming of for months. It was better than anything I could've imagined." She knew how vague she sounded, but it was the best she could do without launching into a play by play of the dance. She felt like it would be enough detail to satisfy Cat Noir's curiosity without her actually telling him anything.

"You know, I never thought phrase 'Curiosity killed the cat' would be so relevant right now!" Cat Noir said. "You're seriously not going to tell me more?"

Ladybug shook her head with a smile. "Nope! Sorry, kitty. Maybe one day I'll tell you. Now come on. Since we're out here we might as well get some patrolling done."

He agreed and the two of them did their usual route throughout the city. They looked out for anything unseemly, whether it was an attack from Hawk Moth or just a run-of-the-mill crime. It was their city, and they were going to protect it from anything and everything.

The two superheroes patrolled until the sun rose over the horizon. The city was quiet that night and the two spent most of it just talking about whatever topic came to their heads. When the city started to awaken they departed with plans to patrol the next night if Hawk Moth didn't strike before then.

Later that day, after Marinette had gotten some sleep, she and Alya met up to talk about the dance and the fact that the video of the prank had gone viral. Marinette watched while cringing as she witnessed the prank from a different point of view. The video didn't stop after Chloe revealed it was being recorded though. Kim kept recording, and he caught the entire thing, up to and including Adrien going off on Chloe. Marinette couldn't help but feel a little smug at him standing up for her.

She started to wonder what she and Adrien were officially. They didn't really get to that last night. Were they just dating or were they boyfriend and girlfriend. Was it an "it's complicated" relationship? She'd like to think they were boyfriend and girlfriend, but that might've been just wishful thinking. He had a photoshoot that day so they hadn't done much more than just a text here and there when he had a chance. Despite this Alya had told Marinette that when they made it official in front of the entire school, she had to film Chloe's reaction and post it to her blog.

Marinette didn't think that would be such a good idea, but she didn't mention it to Alya though. If Chloe was hurt too much then she could get victimized by Hawk Moth, but she had already been akumatized once. So far the superheroes hadn't had to fight a person who had been akumatized once before, not counting Ivan. His akuma hadn't been purified and was still connected to him. That would've been a different situation. Just because it hadn't happened didn't mean it couldn't happen. Hawk Moth was still an enigma, and neither of the superheroes truly knew what he could do. That was what scared Marinette the most.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Monday morning Marinette was shaking; she was so nervous. She hadn't seen Adrien since the night of the dance. He had photoshoots all weekend and had no free time to hang out. They had been texting when he was given a break, but this would've been the first time they had seen each other since he dropped her off at her house after the dance. She still was unsure of their official relationship status. All weekend she thought about asking him, but Marinette didn't want to come across as desperate. Her parents were adamant that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Of course they weren't the best judges for that sort of thing. They were already making plans to have him over dinner. In fact they already had a menu laid out. She was glad that they approved of Adrien though, of course she had no idea why she would think otherwise. When Adrien came over to practice that video game for the tournament her parents were all too happy to bake for him. That was a sign they approved of someone.

Adrien was extremely excited to go to school that morning. He was more excited to go to school than he had ever been for anything, and he knew the reason why: Marinette. He hadn't seen her all weekend, and it had been killing him. His father scheduled back-to-back photoshoots the entire weekend, and it rarely left him any time to do homework or talk to Marinette. He managed to sneak a text to her here and there in between wardrobe changes and five-minute breaks, but it wasn't enough.

Nathalie took notice of how Adrien had been bouncing in his seat ever since they had left the house. She thought it was odd since Adrien was normally never that excited for school. He usually just stared out the window in silence. Of course all weekend he had been acting strange. He was texting someone every chance he got, and from the way he would blush she knew it had to be a girl. Nathalie remembered about his date from the dance and how excited he looked when he left to pick her up. Then she thought about the video on the school blog and how he stood up for her. She put two and two together and came up with the only solution.

She glanced out the window and noticed they were coming up on the school. She looked over at Adrien and saw how bored he was as she gave him an overview of his schedule for the week. She was almost finished though.

"One more thing, your father wants to speak with you right after classes today," Nathalie told him.

"Okay," Adrien said, knitting his eyebrows together. He was slightly confused. His father never wanted to speak to him. When he did it was something that could easily wait until dinner. Did he know about Marinette? Did he not want him to date her? It was very possible, but if there was a girl that his father would approve of dating it would be Marinette. She won a contest that he himself judged, and he even congratulated her. Adrien felt like that would put her in good standing with his father, but he had no idea how his father's mind worked. He never knew what his father was going to do.

The car stopped in front of the school. Adrien looked out the window and saw Marinette standing at the top of the steps talking with Alya. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of her. He reached for the handle yet Nathalie stopped him.

"Oh, and Adrien?"

He turned and was surprised to see her smiling at him. "Yes?"

She gave a knowing glance out the window. "She's a lucky girl," she said with a warm smile.

Adrien didn't question how she knew, but from the way he'd been acting all weekend it was probably obvious. He gave Nathalie a genuine thank you before getting out of the car.

Marinette brightened when she saw Adrien. He caught her eye immediately and jogged up the steps. Once he reached her Adrien put a hand on Marinette's waist then kissed her deeply. She was taken by surprise at his forwardness, but she didn't hesitate to kiss him back. Students around them definitely took notice of their newfound relationship. They started staring and whispering to each other. Within seconds half of the school knew that Marinette and Adrien were together.

Alya, upon Adrien's arrival, had her phone out ready and waiting to capture Chloe's reaction. Even though neither Adrien nor Marinette planned it, Chloe happened to walk by at the exact moment he kissed her. Chloe's jaw dropped when she witnessed Adrien and Marinette making their relationship public. They broke the kiss as Chloe ran inside the school. Though Alya couldn't see her face she thought she caught tears in her eyes.

Marinette and Alya shared a look. Though Marinette liked how the prank backfired at the dance, it didn't mean that Marinette enjoyed seeing Chloe suffer.

"I hope she's okay," Marinette said somberly. She had never seen Chloe cry like that before. Even though she went about it in totally the wrong way, her affections for Adrien were real.

"She'll bounce back," Adrien assured her. He knew Chloe for his entire life, and something like that wouldn't keep her down for too long. She was strong. It wasn't the same way as Marinette, but Chloe would recover. That was his only consolation. He felt horrible for hurting her, especially so publicly like that, but she needed to know. Adrien knew Chloe, and he was sure she wouldn't believe it unless she saw it with her own two eyes.

"I should go talk to her," Marinette offered after a few silent moments.

"Do you really think she would want to talk to you?" Alya asked.

Marinette sighed and her eyes became heavy. "I guess not," she muttered, glancing in the direction Chloe had gone. "I'd probably just make things worse. Come on. We should get to class."

Adrien and Marinette walked to class hand in hand. That small act excited even more gossip among the students. The new couple was the hot topic for gossip that day. Everywhere they went whispers followed. There were some people enraged by the fact Adrien was off the market, while others were just relieved the two of them had finally gotten together.

When the two of them arrived to class, Nino was already there. He had been caught up on their relationship thanks some very excited texts from Alya, and after Adrien sat down next to him Nino clapped his hand on Adrien's shoulder an gave Adrien words of congratulations. Nino, just like Alya, had been trying to get Adrien to go after Marinette for weeks. He had been dropping hints here and there on Marinette's behalf, and it looked like their efforts had finally paid off.

When Chloe didn't show up for home room, Adrien and Marinette became extremely concerned. Both of them watched the door and kept an eye out for anything unusual but during second hour she came back in and their worrying stopped. Her eyes were red and a little puffy and her skin was a little blotchy which led them to believe she had been crying the entire time. Chloe kept her head high and didn't even look at the two of them as she took her seat. Adrien and Marinette let out a sigh of relief at the same time when Chloe walked in. They were both so thankful she didn't get akumatized.

* * *

Gabriel Agreste was bent over his desk going over some paperwork. It had to do with which lines he would premiere at Fashion Week down in Milan, but he couldn't focus. His eyes kept glancing over to the thick stack of papers he printed out the other day. He hated himself for reading them, but he didn't regret his actions. He finally figured out who Cat Noir was, and there was a part of him that was more than pleased he found out.

His hand strayed to his top desk drawer where he kept the butterfly pin. Looking back on all the times he had seen Cat Noir through his villain's eyes, he realized how stupid he had been. Cat Noir was how his son used to be when his mother was still alive. The similarities were staring him right in the face yet he couldn't see it. Mr. Agreste pulled out the pin and stared at it. He had never worn it around his son. A fact he never realized he took for granted.

There was a knock on his office door. Mr. Agreste quickly put the Miraculous away and looked up reverting back to his civilian persona.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened and his son stepped through. He was timid and shy, and a little confused, as to be expected. Mr. Agreste rarely ever asked his son to come by and see him, but he had seen the video on the school's blog. The part of him that cared for Adrien was proud of how he stood up for that girl, a girl who he found out later was his son's date. He had recognized the unfortunate prank victim, and her identity nagged at him until Nathalie mentioned she was the girl who had won the bowler hat contest at Adrien's school. She was a very talented designer, Mr. Agreste remembered, and he was sure that the photoshoot for the contest would've gone great if his son wasn't tragically allergic to feathers.

"You wanted to see me?" Adrien asked when his father didn't say anything.

Mr. Agreste stood up and walked around to stand a few feet away from his son. He looked so much like his mother it almost pained Mr. Agreste to face him. His eyes went down to the ring on Adrien's left hand. The black cat miraculous. He itched to take it right then, but he had to be more subtle than that. If he tried to take it right then, his son would know the truth.

"Yes. I saw the video from the school dance last Friday night," Mr. Agreste said.

"Oh!" Adrien exclaimed. "Umm, I can explain! You see—"

"I'm proud of how you stood up for Marinette," Mr. Agreste interrupted.

That took Adrien by surprise. His green eyes went wide as he took in that new information. His father actually said he was proud of him. That was something that hadn't happened in a long time. It was going to take Adrien a few minutes to truly comprehend what happened.

"You are?" Adrien asked, still unsure that was what he really heard.

Mr. Agreste smiled warmly down at his son. "Of course, especially since it was Chloe who was behind the prank. I know you two were close, and it takes a lot of courage to stand up to friends. I will admit that I am disappointed in how she turned out. I always knew her father spoiled her too much, but I am not disappointed in you."

Adrien was left stunned by his words. He was… proud? He was not disappointed? Adrien tried to remember anytime his father had said he was proud of him. He kept coming up empty. Needless to say Adrien was left speechless.

"Thank you, Father," Adrien finally said when he could speak again. His mind was still reeling from this new information.

Mr. Agreste smiled again. "You are free to leave," he told him.

Adrien turned and left without another word. He was slightly dazed as he went out into the hall. Adrien shut the door behind him and kept walking without noticing where he was going. Once he had walked far enough away his father couldn't eavesdrop Plagg flew out of Adrien's shirt pocket.

"That was weird," Plagg told him.

"I know," Adrien said slowly. He glanced back at the door to his father's office. It was really weird and out of character. The last time his father showed affection for him it was after Simonsayz attacked. His father had almost died that day, and that would make anyone want to show affection for their children, but this? All he did was stand up to Chloe, which was something he should've done a long time ago. It wasn't like he saved Marinette from a car wreck or anything. Adrien began to wonder why he was questioning this. His father was proud of him, shouldn't he be glad? There was something off about his father though. He just couldn't shake the feeling, and he wasn't sure what it was, but there was something not quite right about the whole exchange. He might have just been paranoid, but this was so unlike his father that it made him very suspicious. He reached up and rubbed the back of his neck as if to scratch an itch, but it was to help calm the hairs that were standing up back there.

"Ooooh! Are we snooping again?" Plagg asked excitedly when he recognized Adrien's expression. "Because it was a lot of fun the first time!"

"Okay, first of all, I never snooped!" Adrien defended. "That was all you! I didn't want any part of it!" Adrien stopped abruptly. He didn't realize how loud he had gotten. Adrien did a quick glance around to make sure they were alone before rushing back to his room.

"And second of all," Adrien continued as soon as he shut his bedroom door, "you are not going through my father's things! I almost lost that superhero book. I am _not_ letting you go through his stuff again." Adrien had panicked when he realized his father's book was gone. He searched for days retracing his steps a hundred times. He must've gone through every book in the school's library before admitting he had lost it forever. He was about to confess to his father when one day he came home from school and there it was. The corner was peeking out from underneath his bed. He had no idea how it had gotten there, since it had never been in his room, but he wasn't questioning that lucky break. He put it back in the safe with Plagg's help and hadn't even gone near that portrait of his mother since then.

Plagg's face fell. "Aww! But aren't you at least a little curious?"

Adrien knew what he was trying to do, and he was not going to fall for it.

"No!" Adrien told him. He sat down at his desk and spun around staring at the ceiling. He was trying to convince himself that he wasn't the least bit curious about his father. Despite his mind's protest, he started going over the entire conversation with his father. He thought over every word and every gesture looking for anything out of the ordinary. It was a tall order since the entire conversation was out of the ordinary. Adrien did his best though, but he couldn't find a single reason as to why he was so suspicious. He boggled it down to just being thrown off his guard, but even that wasn't a good enough reason.

Adrien sighed and checked the time. If he left right at that moment, Adrien could make it to Marinette's to hang out for a couple hours before dinner. So Adrien left. He needed to get his mind off his father, and he needed a good excuse to see his girlfriend again. He went over to her parent's bakery, and after some awkward yet very friendly greetings from her parents Marinette came downstairs. She had told them they were dating, and her parents wouldn't let Adrien upstairs until he agreed to stay for dinner. He agreed almost immediately. He really liked her parents. They were warm and affectionate and they actually liked him. They weren't afraid to show it either. It was a complete one-eighty from how it was at his own house. Adrien was still not sure if his father truly liked him or not since he didn't show it very often.

"I'm so sorry about my parents," Marinette said when she was finally able to get her new boyfriend away from them. She had to grasp him by the hand and physically pull him out of the front store and away from her parents. "They can be a bit enthusiastic."

Adrien smiled as he let her pull her up the stairs. "I like them," he said honestly. "They're pretty cool."

"They're also completely embarrassing."

Adrien's face fell. "I wish I knew how that felt," he muttered before he could catch himself.

Marinette turned and saw his expression and immediately started apologizing. "Oh, Adrien, I-I'm sorry! I-I-I didn't even think—!"

"Marinette, calm down!" he said as she started to stumble over her words again. "It's okay. I've come to terms about my relationship with my father. Don't stress yourself out over that. Please."

She nodded hesitantly. "Okay. If you're sure." Her bright, blue eyes were wide as they looked at him. They were filled to the brim with concern over him.

Adrien smiled warmly at her. "I am sure."

Marinette was one step above Adrien, so for once she had to lean down to kiss him. From the bottom of the stairs they heard a simultaneous "Awwww!" from her parents. Marinette sighed and blushed while Adrien chuckled.

"Maybe we should head up to your room," Adrien suggested.

"Good idea," she said, looking over his shoulder to her parents. She gave them a warning glare to which they just smiled and waved. Marinette rolled her eyes but had to smile. She loved her parents, but they could be so embarrassing! At least Adrien didn't seem to mind. In fact he seemed to enjoy it. She tried not to think about the fact that this was probably the first time in a long time that Adrien had seen parents act this lovingly. Marinette knew that Adrien had no illusions about his relationship with his father, but she still wanted to do something to make it better. Though she wasn't sure it could be made better. It might have been broken for too long.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Mr. Agreste looked out the window of his office and saw his son walking down the sidewalk. He knew that this would be the perfect opportunity. He took the pin out of his desk drawer then went to his bookcase. He tilted a seemingly random book and a portion of the wall slid aside. Mr. Agreste walked through and a moment later the wall slid closed. He walked down a very long hallway until he came he came into the room containing all his beautiful akumas. He put the pin on his tie and a moment later the butterfly Kwami Nooroo appeared.

"Did you know that Cat Noir is my son?" Mr. Agreste demanded.

Nooroo didn't answer. He shrank back from his master's voice and trembled in his presence. At his silence Mr. Agreste yelled with rage then swatted him away like the bug he was.

"Of course you would know!" he yelled. "How could you not? I have demanded multiple times for you to tell me who they are, and I found out that one of them lives in my house!"

"I didn't know," Nooroo defended timidly. He was telling the truth. Kwamis could only sense another Kwami if they were specifically looking for each other, or if they were within inches of another Kwami. Despite his master's orders, he hadn't been trying to find his friends Plagg and Tikki. He wasn't going to be a willing participant in their suffering. If Gabriel Agreste got his hands on the Miraculouses they were linked to, Nooroo knew that it would be the cause of the biggest disaster the earth had ever seen.

Mr. Agreste let out a sound that could only be described as a growl. He felt so stupid! Cat Noir had been in his house that whole time! That lowly alley cat had been sleeping under his roof and eating his food for months.

He had multiple chances to take this Miraculous since he found out, but something kept stopping him. No, not something, someone. His wife. Every time he looked at Adrien he saw his wife. Adrien took after her in more ways than one. He got her kindness, her passion; he even looked like her. He would never be able to take the black cat Miraculous from his son, but he would be able to take it from Cat Noir.

He transformed and sensed for troubled souls needing his help. He hadn't done two akuma possessions yet, but he would need them that night.

* * *

A young girl walked down the streets of Paris. She had her hands in her pockets and walked slowly as she thought about the events from a few minutes ago. All she wanted to do was share her love of spiders, yet all that got her was mockery and humiliation. She knew how awesome spiders were, but no one in her class could see that. They were so blind to it that they took the habitat her favorite spider lived in and took turns passing it around. She tried and tried to get it back, but they never let her have. Long story short, they killed her spider. She wanted to go back and show them how remarkable spiders really were, but she knew she couldn't.

The young girl didn't notice the black and purple butterfly that flapped over and absorbed itself into her necklace shaped like a spider web. She heard a voice appear in her mind.

"Hello, Arachna. I am Hawk Moth. I can give you the power to show your classmates what it really means to be a spider, but in return you must do something for me."

"I'm in, Hawk Moth," she said without hesitation. "What do you want me to do?"

Within seconds the young girl was transformed into the villain Arachna. She was wearing a skin tight, black suit with thick red lines emanating from the red hourglass on her chest. She spread her hands and placed them on the wall. She jumped to either side of the alley spinning a web so massive it would catch anything that walked into it. Smiling to herself, she jumped up and sought out her classmates.

* * *

The zoo was getting ready to close and the crowd was thinning. Yet a group of teenagers refused to leave the wolf exhibit. The wolf keeper was inside the enclosure feeding his beloved animals. The teenagers kept yelling at him and the wolves. They were trying to get him to make the wolves do something cool. The keeper tried to ignore them, but his anger was getting the best of him. They didn't realize how majestic wolves were, and also how kind they could really be. His wolves were loyal and treated him like a member of the pack. Wolves were also very dangerous. If those teenagers knew how dangerous, they wouldn't be laughing.

A black and purple akuma flew into the enclosure and landed on the keeper's wolf talisman.

"Hello, Phantom Wolf. I am Hawk Moth. I can give you the power to show the world how powerful wolves really are, but these powers aren't free. You must do something for me."

The keeper smiled a wolfish grin. "What must I do?"

The akuma in the talisman released its essence and within moments the keeper had transformed into a large, gray wolf. His first order of business, those teenagers.

* * *

Cat Noir left early for patrol that night. Plagg kept feeling uneasy and for once urged Adrien to transform. Once he had transformed and was out in the city he knew what Plagg was going on about. Those animal instincts he kept joking on about weren't a joke. He really did have animal instincts. There was something off that night, but he couldn't put his claw on it.

Ladybug went up to her roof after transforming to look out into the night. She had heard the sirens and when they didn't stop she knew it should be something she should check out. She looked off into the direction the sirens were coming from, and she saw that the Eiffel Tower had been covered in a giant spider web.

"That can't be good," she muttered to herself. She grabbed her yoyo and hooked it onto a chimney then started swinging to Paris's most famous landmark. She landed in front of the fountains across the river of the tower gazing up at the spider web. It was massive! It covered the entire structure. There was a police line set up yet no one was going near it. Ladybug didn't blame them. _She_ didn't want to go near it.

"Hey, Ladybug! I saw on the web that you'd be here!" Cat Noir said from behind.

She turned around and saw him perched on top of a street lamp. She sighed at his pun. He jumped down with a summersault and landed lithely on his feet.

"So, I've come up with two possible explanations for this," Cat Noir said.

"Oh really?" Ladybug asked while crossing her arms. "What are they?"

"The first, a giant radioactive spider escaped from a mad scientist's lab. The second, we got an akuma villain on our hands."

She smiled at her partner. "Both seem very reasonable, but I'm going to have to go with the latter."

"So was I. I don't know about you, but I personally don't want my face to melt off. Why deprive the world of this exquisite example of human beauty?" Cat Noir gestured to his face to which Ladybug rolled her eyes. It wasn't that he wasn't attractive, it was that he flaunted it constantly.

"Let's get a closer look," she suggested.

"Good idea," he said.

They ran across the bridge and were about to go over the police line when one of the officers stopped them.

"Whoa! Sorry, Cat Noir and Ladybug. We're not letting anyone near this!" he told them. "Especially you two!"

"Why not?" Ladybug asked. Usually they were all too eager to let the young superheroes deal with the akuma villains.

"Because every officer that has gotten close has been captured and spun into the web!" The officer pointed to the spider silk. Ladybug looked up and gasped when she saw what he meant. There were thicker patches of silk interwoven into the main web. She noted that they were about the size of a human being. She counted at least twenty of them.

"Ah! Cat Noir! Ladybug! I was wondering when you'd crawl by!" a new voice yelled.

Ladybug and Cat Noir looked up and saw the culprit behind the giant spider web. She was standing at on a ledge near the bottom of the tower, and from what the superheroes could see she was wearing an outfit reminiscent of the black widow spider.

"Why don't you two come on up? I know someone who has been dying to meet you!"

"Why did it have to be a spider?" Ladybug muttered as the thought of going up the Eiffel Tower crossed her mind. She didn't even like seeing spiders behind glass, now she was supposed to walk into a spider web? That was how many of her nightmares began. It was going to take a lot of courage to get her to climb that tower that night.

"Afraid of spiders, LB?" Cat Noir asked with a grin.

"Yes," she said without a single ounce of humor.

Cat Noir's face fell as her seriousness hit him. He put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. "Hey, look, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were afraid of spiders. Honestly, I never thought you of all people would be afraid of anything. You always seem so fearless. I know you can do this, Ladybug. Just remember she is another victim, another akuma villain. This is something we have done countless of times before. There is no reason for this time to be any different."

She smiled at his words. They helped some, but it was going to take a lot more than that to get her move past her fear. She stared up at the webbed structure. She was nothing more than just another victim of Hawk Moth. Ladybug knew she could do it. It was just a matter of putting one leg in front of the other.

"Okay. Let's do this," she finally said, determination in her eyes.

Ladybug and Cat Noir got into their fight stance. She swung her yoyo around and was about to hook it up at the top when a police radio went off. The superheroes listened intently as reports of a wolf attack came in from the zoo. The reports said that the alpha wolf was able to talk, which wasn't possible unless…

"Another akuma?" Ladybug wondered. "Is that even possible?"

"I don't know, but one of us should check it out," Cat Noir suggested.

"You go," Ladybug said immediately. "I'll take care of Spidey here."

His eyes widened. "Are you sure?" he asked uncertainly.

She nodded. "Yes. I'll catch up with you later. If you get the akuma before I get there, call me."

"Alright. I promise." He put a hand on her shoulder before getting a running start towards the zoo.

"And be careful, Cat!" she yelled after him, thinking of the night he fought Spark Plug.

Ladybug steeled herself, and, ignoring the protests of the police officers, threw her yoyo up and pulled herself to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

"Okay, Spidey. This is between you and me," Ladybug said when she landed.

The spideresque villain smiled gleefully. "The name's Arachna. And you should know, spiders eat ladybugs."

"Well, this ladybug is going to take you down," Ladybug taunted.

"Bring it on."

* * *

Cat Noir made it to the zoo just in time. He heard the growls and barks from the escaped wolves nearby. He followed the sounds and saw a large, gray wolf in the lead who was clearly the alpha. He was leading an advance of four normal wolves on a scared group of teenagers. Cat Noir jumped down and landed in between the wolves and the teenagers.

"Having a ruff day are we?" Cat Noir asked upon his landing. He stared down the enormous gray wolf. The animal's eyes clearly held human-like intelligence as he stared at Cat Noir, and the superhero knew immediately this was the akuma villain. Cat Noir's eyes zoomed in on a bracelet around the gray wolf's leg. That had to be where the akuma was hiding.

"Ah, Cat Noir. Purrfect timing," the alpha said.

"Hey, that's my pun!" Cat Noir said, deeply offended. He shrugged it off quickly. "No matters. I know I can paw-sitively take you down!" He grabbed his staff and extended it then held out one end in the direction of the wolves. Cat Noir bristled as he faced them down. He knew he looked braver than he felt, and the hairs on the back of his neck that were standing on end were not helping.

"There's someone looking to meet you," the alpha continued. "If I take you to him, I get to keep my powers."

"You know, I think I'd rather not. I'm really not in the mood to travel."

The alpha chuckled. "I was hoping you'd say that."

The wolf readied itself before pouncing on the young superhero. Cat Noir lifted his staff and managed to land a blow to the side of the wolf to knock him aside. Cat Noir rolled out of the way and landed opposite of the wolf.

"Get out of here!" Cat Noir yelled to the teenagers who had been frozen to the spot since the superhero's arrival. At Cat Noir's orders they scrambled and ran off. Good. One less thing he had to focus on. He couldn't fight all of those wolves at once _and_ protect those kids. He could only do so much.

Cat Noir put up a good fight against the wolves, but they were attacking him endlessly. He mainly used his staff and tried not to permanently hurt the real wolves attacking him. He tried to go for the alpha any time he had an opening, but the other wolves kept advancing. He was able to fend them off for a little while, but they got more organized as the fight went on. His staff got knocked out of his reach and that was it. He dived for it, but the alpha got to it before Cat Noir could. The wolves grabbed him by his ankles and started dragging him off to Hawk Moth. The alpha walked in front with his head held high and with Cat Noir's staff was still held proudly in his mouth. Cat Noir glared at the wolf as they brought him out of the zoo. He only hoped that Ladybug was doing better than him.

* * *

Ladybug was able to push past her fear of spiders as she started fighting Arachna, but she had a difficult time as the battle went on. She was fighting on the spider's territory and all the webs were hard to maneuver around. She was able to hold her own for a while, but the web slinging villain overpowered her. Ladybug fell into a trap and landed on one of the giant webs Arachna had spun. Ladybug kicked herself for falling for it. She should've known better.

Arachna tied up Ladybug for transport to Hawk Moth. Only her legs were free so she could walk. Ladybug followed behind Arachna unwillingly and kept trying to escape, but she could never get free.

They had arrived at the entrance of Hawk Moth's lair within moments of Cat Noir and his captures. He was being dragged by his ankles and looked a little worse for wear. They shared solemn looks as the villains brought them inside. The wolves let go of Cat Noir but before he could attack Arachna covered his hands in spider silk, but she left his right hand free so his Miraculous could be easily taken. The villains marched them down the hallway in silence. The only sound was their footsteps echoing on the pristine tile floor. Ladybug and Cat Noir tried to get their bearings and to figure out where they were, but it was almost impossible. The hallway was dark and cold with no doors or windows. It seemed that they were walking forever, but in reality was only less than a minute. Soon a chorus of flapping started to echo around them. Seconds later they were in what was a large, domed room with a very grand circular window looking out over the city of Paris. The window had a beautiful design done with its pale purple panes that were reminiscent of a butterfly's wings. All around them were glowing, white, purified akumas. Standing in the center with his legs apart and hands lightly resting on his cane was Hawk Moth.

"Wonderful job, Arachna and Phantom Wolf," Hawk Moth said without turning around. "Make sure they can't escape."

"With pleasure," Arachna said. She pushed the superheroes to the nearest wall then spun a web around them. The two of them struggled against the restraints but the spider silk was too strong. Given an hour or so they might've been able to get free, but they didn't have that long.

Cat Noir stared down Hawk Moth without saying a word. The catlike superhero was not giving the villain the satisfaction.

Phantom Wolf trotted up to Hawk Moth and gave him Cat Noir's staff. Cat Noir shifted uncomfortably as Hawk Moth laid his gloved hand on his weapon. His tail would've twitched if it wasn't immobilized. He knew that Ladybug still had her yoyo. He glanced over at his partner. Her brow was furrowed as she glared at their enemy. He couldn't help but smile. He knew that she was trying to come up with a plan. Hopefully she could come up with something before their Miraculouses were stolen.

"Aww. The satisfaction of defeat," Hawk Moth said after a few moments of staring at the staff. He seemed to be savoring the moment. "For too long, you two have thwarted my every move, defeated my every villain, and now, it's my turn."

Cat Noir tried not to focus on how familiar Hawk Moth's voice sounded. It made him want to shrink back and not disobey, but he wasn't sure why.

Ladybug noticed a change in Cat Noir's demeanor as Hawk Moth spoke. Cat Noir looked… _scared_? Granted, they were both scared as could be, but this was different. He was… the only way she could describe it was that he was degraded. She gave him a questioning look, but Cat Noir didn't say anything.

"With your Miraculouses," Haw Moth continued, "I will have the ultimate power. Nothing and no one will be able to stop me. The world will bow to me."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Cat Noir said, getting impatient. "We know. We're your ultimate enemies and our defeat is purr-fect and you're going to savor it furr-ever. Just get on with it, will you?"

Cat Noir caught Ladybug's eye roll out of the corner of his eye. He knew that his timing was horrible, but he had to do something to not make their situation seem so dire.

Hawk Moth smirked. "Excuse me for savoring this moment," he said, "but you must understand how long I've been waiting for this, Adrien."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Adrien? Ladybug looked at Cat Noir who was just as surprised to hear that name. No. He couldn't be Adrien, could he? Ladybug's mind started racing with that new information. She thought of Adrien and Cat Noir. Adrien was always so reserved and quiet while Cat Noir was expressive and loud. They were nothing alike, yet that was what made them so similar. It made so much sense! They looked and sounded the same. They had the same gestures and nervous habits. Cat Noir would sometimes show the same kindness and compassion as Adrien did all the time, and Adrien would act a little cocky and crack jokes like Cat Noir. Cat Noir was Adrien. She felt stupid for being so oblivious.

"Adrien?" Ladybug whispered, wondering if asking him aloud would change the fact.

Cat Noir looked over at Ladybug. Once their eyes met she knew the truth once and for all. She wanted to ask him so many questions, but Cat Noir turned his attention on Hawk Moth.

"How do you know that?" Cat Noir asked. He was panicking. If Hawk Moth knew who he was, then he could know everything. How long had he known? Did he just find out, or did he know for a while? What else could Hawk Moth know?

Hawk Moth grinned evilly. "So it's true," he said. "I will admit, I still had a couple of doubts about your true identity. So thank you, Adrien Agreste. You have been most helpful." Hawk Moth started walking over to the superheroes. He was heading towards Ladybug. She was the bigger priority at that moment.

"Is it true?" she asked Cat Noir.

He sighed. "Yes. My real name is Adrien Agreste. In real life I'm just a kid with an overbearing father and a modeling career. That's who I am."

"I know," Ladybug whispered. Her voice was rough, and her eyes were shining with unshed tears.

His cat ears perked up at her words. "You know?" he asked inquisitively. "How do you know?"

Hawk Moth had reached her by then. He knelt down and used his cane for balance. "Now, it's time to figure out who you really are, Ladybug."

She put up no fight as Hawk Moth reached up to her ears. She cried out as the earrings were forcefully taken, her powers along with them. Having her powers stripped from her like that tore through her soul. It felt like her flesh was being ripped and peeled away from her body. She felt her transformation disappear, and she was back to normal. Tikki didn't reappear like she usually did. The earrings stayed charged up with her power. They looked just how they did when Marinette first received them.

Cat Noir gasped when the transformation went away. "Marinette?"

She managed to give her boyfriend a small, weak smile. She was still recovering from having her powers forcefully taken away from her.

"Hi, Adrien" she muttered. He only stared in disbelief.

Cat Noir kicked himself for being so stupidly oblivious. He fell in love with the same girl twice! He thought back to all the reasons he started liking Marinette in the first place, and they were literally the same reasons he loved Ladybug. They were so similar it was staring him right in the face! They both wore their Raven black hair in pig tails and they both had gorgeous bluebell eyes. They were both confident and brave and quick on their feet. He had tried for months to figure out who Ladybug was, and she was sitting right behind him this whole time! He thought about the reasons as to why he didn't realize that before, and it had to be the fact that Ladybug was always sure-footed. Marinette always seemed to be tripping on air or running into things. Of course that difference could be boiled down to the Ladybug powers. Everything else was the same.

Marinette looked up at Hawk Moth's smug face and suddenly it felt like she was having one of her nightmares. She used to dream about being caught by Hawk Moth. He would use both Cat Noir and Adrien as leverage to have her give up her Miraculous. She would refuse and then he would torture the boys endlessly. He would tell her that she could make their pain stop if she gave up her earrings. She kept refusing. He would then promise her that he would stop when he had her Miraculous. He wouldn't wait for an answer. He would cut into them, cut off their fingers, and burn their skin with acid; then suddenly they would be whole again and he would demand she hand over her earrings. She had these nightmares enough times to know that when she gave it over to him he would break his promise. He would start torturing the boys all over again while she watched helplessly and powerlessly. It was an endless cycle, and it only stopped when she woke.

Cat Noir watched as Marinette's smile went away and her eyes darkened when she looked up at Hawk Moth. A peculiar expression ran across her face. She had a dazed look, but not her usual day-dreaming one. She was scared and her eyes were faraway. It was like she was remembering something horrifying. He wanted to reach out to hold her, to comfort her, but he was still ensnared in the spider silk. An idea popped in his head and he snuck a glance at Marinette. She was no longer dazed and scared. Her eyes were intent and focused, and he never felt more in love.

"This entire time," Cat Noir muttered, his mind going back to the realization Marinette was Ladybug. "So I was right about us knowing each other in real life." He was flashing back to the battle with Lady Wifi. He had suggested way back then that they knew each other outside of their superhero lives. She doubted it, but he was right. They didn't just know each other; they were friends up until very recently.

"The other night on patrol, we were literally talking about our dates with each other!" Cat Noir continued on the edge of laughing.

Marinette had to laugh at that realization. Her kitty always came through to lighten up the situation.

"Ah, Marinette," Hawk Moth said once the two teenagers were done talking. "The daughter of a baker. It is always the last person you would expect."

Cat Noir scoffed. "So you are not the least be wounded by the fact two teenagers were able to defeat you over and over again?" he asked. "I mean, that must really hurt. A grown man such as yourself getting your butt kicked by a couple of kids. That must hurt your pride a little bit.a"

Marinette glanced over at him and saw his cat eyes narrow. She bit back a smile since she knew what he was about to do.

"I must admit, being thwarted by children was not something I expected," Hawk Moth said, "but the satisfaction of beating you is the same regardless."

Hawk Moth pocketed the earrings then made his way over to Cat Noir. Marinette wasn't afraid for him since she knew what was about to happen. Hawk Moth reached forward to Cat Noir's right hand, but the cat had a plan. Arachna had left his right hand free so his Miraculous could easily be taken. That was a stupid move on her part. The superheroes were always on the same wavelength, and Marinette knew she had no way of getting out of the webs, but Cat Noir did. She knew that if he could manage to escape, then they would have the upper hand, or upper claw has Cat Noir would say.

"Cataclysm!" he yelled before Hawk Moth could get his fingers around the Miraculous. Cat Noir turned his hand around and pressed it, fingers spread wide, onto the web. His destruction power spread and started disintegrating the spider silk until both of them were free.

"Looks like you forgot one tiny detail, Hawk Moth," Marinette said as she instinctively got into her fight stance. Her eyes zeroed in on the pocket Hawk Moth had put her earrings in. She needed to get her earrings back before it was too late.

"No matter," he said, unfazed. "Arachna, Phantom Wolf, attack."

Marinette and Cat Noir watched in horror as Hawk Moth backed up to let his latest villains advance forward.

"Wanna switch it up?" Cat Noir asked. "I get Spidey while you take on Teen Wolf?"

Marinette nodded. She hoped that she could hold her own without her Ladybug powers. Fighting a wolf was something that a non-superhero person could do. Hopefully she could as well.

Cat Noir spotted his staff laying by the opposite wall. His ring beeped and he knew that he needed to wrap it up. One of them without powers was bad enough, but both of them? That would be it. He glanced over at Marinette and she was staring down the wolf without an ounce of fear in her eyes. Even without her powers she was still fearless. He loved her so much.

Arachna shot a web at him, but he jumped up out of the way. He flew over the spider villain then landed behind her. He got on all fours and ran to his staff. He was able to dodge her webs as he ran thanks to his animal senses. He grabbed his staff then broke it in two. He extended both to the length of a sword. He spun them around to create a shield as she uselessly threw her webs at Cat Noir. His deflection of webs didn't discourage Arachna. She kept hurling webs faster and faster, but Cat Noir was easily able to keep up. If only he could get closer.

Marinette noticed that Cat Noir had retrieved his staff. She saw how many pads he had left, and he only had four minutes before he turned back to normal. Using his cataclysm got them out of the spider silk, but it might've cost them their lives. She tried to keep her mind off of that thought. There were more important things to worry about. Phantom Wolf growled then crouched low to the floor. She knew enough about canines to know he was about to jump at her. Just as he was air born Marinette dropped the floor and kicked up with both her legs before he could land on her. She launched him a few feet behind her and he landed in a heap of gray fur. Marinette stood back up quickly wishing she had her yoyo.

Phantom Wolf wasn't fazed by Marinette's dodge. He growled even louder then charged at her. He knocked her down to the floor then lunged for her throat. Marinette threw her hand up and clamped her fingers around his thick neck to keep his teeth away from her. She reached down the wolf's leg to get the akuma off his leg but right before she had her fingers around it Phantom Wolf took advantage of her slight distraction and was able to nip her arm. He only just broke the skin but Marinette knew she couldn't let herself get distracted like that again. Another slip-up like and he could bite her face off. Making sure she didn't lose focus or loosen her grip on his neck, she reached around for something to hit him with. Coming up empty she just tried to keep Phantom Wolf from biting her. She tried kicking and kneeing him in the gut but the wolf didn't even seem to notice. Marinette felt sweat start to drip down her face. She could only hold back the wolf for so long.

Cat Noir saw Marinette struggling to keep the giant wolf at bay. He saw the lack of viable weapons around her, and an idea came to him.

"Marinette!" he yelled.

Marinette turned her head at the sound of her name. She saw Cat Noir twirling his staffs around. When he noticed her looking at him he threw one of them to her. She caught it surprisingly easily then used it to hit Phantom Wolf on the side of his face.

"Thanks, partner!" she called.

"No problem, LB," he said.

As Ladybug she could spin Cat Noir's staff as fast as he could, but as Marinette she would have to make do with just using it as a normal staff. Cat Noir had extended it to about six feet long before he threw it to her. She wasn't as proficient in staff weapons as he was, but she knew how to hit. With a weapon in her hand she felt more confident and was able to land a few hard blows to the wolf. The last one hit the wolf in the head sufficiently knocking him out. With the wolf incapacitated she went after Arachna. She ran and swung the staff to hit her hard on the head. She knew exactly how much force to exert to knock her out for a good long while.

"You're welcome," she said with a smile as Arachna fell to the floor.

He smiled proudly at her before his ring beeped. Three minutes left.

The two of them faced Hawk Moth. Marinette wasn't sure but she thought she saw fear in his cold, dead eyes.

"Give her back her Miraculous," Cat Noir demanded. "We all know you're nothing without your villains."

"I can always make more," he said. "Now that I have the ladybug Miraculous, you have no way of defeating them."

He was right. That was why he was always so adamant of getting the ladybug Miraculous over the black cat's. Ladybug was the only one who could turn the akumas back to normal.

"We'll be able to take you down even without our powers," Marinette said confidently.

Hawk Moth chuckled. "I highly doubt that, but it looks like we'll find out in just a few minutes," Hawk Moth said, eyeing Cat Noir's ring.

Her eyes went to the butterfly pin attached to his tie. She remembered the conversation she had with Master Fu. If she took his Miraculous then he would be powerless as well. That would even the playing field a bit.

Cat Noir charged at their enemy. He held his staff up high but Hawk Moth blocked his blow with the cane. Cat Noir took another swing at him, but Hawk Moth blocked that advance as well. He tried to get the upper hand as he fought against Hawk Moth, but he wasn't able to gain any ground. Marinette gasped as she saw her partner slip. She dashed forward and held up her half of his staff in her hands to keep Hawk Moth from landing a blow to Cat Noir's side. The cane hit the metal with a sharp _tap_. From behind her Cat Noir extended his staff so that it pushed Hawk Moth off balance which caused him to drop his cane. Marinette kicked the cane out of his reach so Cat Noir could get her earrings safely. He ran forward and reached into the pocket where he had seen Hawk Moth put the earrings. He threw them back to Marinette who caught them easily. Once they landed in her hands Tikki appeared again. The two shared quick words of delight before Marinette put the earrings back on.

"No!" Hawk Moth yelled when Marinette had her Miraculous back.

"Tikki, spots on!" Marinette said. It felt like a part of her soul was returned when she put the earrings on. She loved the feeling having her powers back. She would never take them for granted again.

Hawk Moth watched in horror as Marinette transformed, but grinned in delight when Cat Noir's ring beeped. One minute and counting.

"Cat Noir get out of here!" Ladybug yelled when she saw the same thing as Hawk Moth. She grabbed her yoyo and spun it so that a red glowing circle appeared. She never thought she would be that happy to have her yoyo back.

"I'm not leaving you here alone!" he refused adamantly. He moved to stand by her side. He had forty seconds left.

"Adrien, I swear I will drag you out of here by your tail if you don't leave right now!" she yelled at him, using his real name for once. She hadn't even realized she had used it until she said it.

Hawk Moth laughed. "One door closes another one opens," he said. "You can fight me all you want, but it's not going to change the outcome." He raised his hand and the butterflies started flying faster. They got more organized and then flew straight for Ladybug. She ducked as they flew past her. The butterflies flew around her in a thick circle. They didn't harm her but it served as a distraction.

When they had flown away she looked back up to see that Hawk Moth had captured Cat Noir in an inescapable embrace. She glared at the sight of her partner defenseless like that. Cat Noir struggled against Hawk Moth, but it was moot. In seconds he was going to lose his transformation. She had been counting down in her head and only five seconds remained. Four. Three. Two. One.

She saw a little black creature fly out of the ring and within moments Cat Noir had transformed back to normal. It pained her to see Adrien standing there. By that point she had accepted the fact that it was Adrien underneath that mask, but that was the first time she had seen it for herself. He looked very defeated as Hawk Moth pulled the ring off of Adrien's hand. The black cat Kwami got sucked back into the ring just like Tikki had been.

Ladybug threw her yoyo and wrapped it around Hawk Moth's leg. She yanked on the string bringing him to the floor. Adrien had gotten pulled down with him but Hawk Moth was too busy trying to get the string unwound to keep a grip on the young boy. She heard the ring clatter to the ground with Hawk Moth's fall. It was too dark to see the ring from where Ladybug stood, but she saw Adrien start to search for it.

The yoyo retracted so Hawk Moth was pulled until he was on the ground in front of her. She bound his hands then knelt next to him. "Let's see who you really are," Ladybug said, echoing his words from earlier. She grabbed the pin from his collar and once it was off a purple butterfly Kwami appeared out of the pin. Hawk Moth detransformed into someone very familiar to both her and Adrien.

"Father?" Adrien asked.


	11. Chapter 11

*Hello my awesome readers! Here we are, at the last chapter. I hope all of you have enjoyed it, and I really want to thank you for all the awesome reviews and the feedback. It has been an amazing experience. So, here it is! Chapter 11! The final chapter. Enjoy!

 **Chapter 11**

Adrien felt like he had been thrown against the wall. All the air had been knocked out of his lungs, and his bones felt like jelly. He didn't want to believe it. His father… was Hawk Moth? Adrien was not able to accept it. His father was a lot of things, but he never expected him to be evil. What could possibly happen to him that would turn him into… into someone as evil as that? How did he know about Adrien? Hawk Moth knew Cat Noir's identity before his transformation ran out. Did his father know the entire time? His mind wouldn't stop racing, and the longer he went around in circles the more his anger grew.

Ladybug tied up Gabriel Agreste so he was unable to move. She took the akumas off the still unconscious villains and purified them so that they were no longer a danger. The butterfly Kwami was following behind Ladybug while she was fixing everything. He thanked her tremendously for freeing him and to bring him to the Master Fu once everything was over.

"Of course…," she hesitated when she realized she didn't even know his name.

"Nooroo," he said, finishing her sentence.

"Nooroo," she repeated with a smile. Nooroo gave Ladybug a huge smile then went into the pin willingly.

Once the villains were purified and sent on their way, she went over to Adrien. He was on his knees staring at his ring. He had put it back on so his Kwami was free again. Ladybug saw a tiny black creature sitting on Adrien's shoulder lightly munching on a small block of cheese. The Kwami was staring at Adrien with such sadness that it caused a tightness in her chest. She bit her lip and closed her eyes tightly to keep from crying. She was about to walk over there but Adrien stood up first. The Kwami fell off Adrien's shoulder with the movement, but caught his bearings quickly and flew after his charge.

Adrien grabbed his father by his jacket and gave him one swift punch in the face. She winced at the sound of flesh hitting flesh.

"Adrien!" Ladybug yelled. She ran over to him and caught his hand before he was able to throw another punch.

"How long did you know!?" Adrien yelled. "About me! How long did you know!?"

"A few days," Gabriel answered without any infliction in his voice.

Ladybug really had to hold Adrien back from punching him again. She had never seen Adrien that angry before.

"How did you find out?" he demanded.

Mr. Agreste hesitated. He looked away like he was ashamed.

" _How did you find out_?!" Adrien repeated. He emphasized each word as he said them. Ladybug noticed how his voice had taken on an animal like quality. It wasn't something specific like a hiss or a growl. She couldn't describe it, but it terrified her.

"I suspected when I saw your ring, and I was certain when I read your journal."

Adrien's eyes went wide and his face blanched. Ladybug no longer felt like she had to hold him back. It was like all the strength had left his body. Adrien was absolutely mortified. He never thought his father would invade his privacy like that. In fact that was the one good thing he liked about his father. He never invaded Adrien's privacy. It was something his father stressed while he was growing up. Did all of that mean nothing to him?

"How could you do that!?" Adrien yelled when he got past the shock. "I trusted you!"

"Whoa! Adrien, calm down," Ladybug cautioned when it looked like Adrien was going to punch his father again.

"No! I am not going to calm down! He lied to me, invaded my privacy, and has tried to kill us multiple times!" Adrien turned to his father; his green eyes livid. "What could possibly happen that would turn you into _this_?"

"You're mother," Gabriel Agreste said honestly.

Adrien's anger flamed out at the mention of his mother. "My… my mother?" he breathed. "What does she have to do with this?"

"She was killed," Adrien's father continued.

"I know. In a car accident in New York. I remember," Adrien said with a furrowed brow.

Ladybug raised her eyebrows at that. That was why he got weird when he had spoken about New York. It explained what he had said about making things right. He wanted to replace a horrible memory with a good one.

"I lied," Gabriel Agreste said matter-of-factly. "She wasn't killed in a car accident. She was murdered doing exactly what you two do every day. Your mother had the peacock Miraculous. We were fighting against a villain in New York and things went… they didn't end well."

Adrien was left speechless. Ladybug reached up and put a hand on his shoulder. He softened under her touch.

"But that was years ago," Adrien said. "Why now?"

"I didn't have a way to get my revenge." Ladybug didn't like the way Mr. Agreste was talking. His voice was calm, yet cold. He didn't sound ashamed or regretful at all. There wasn't any emotion at all in his words. It was frightening. "So I waited, bided my time. When I found the Miraculous Book, and I discovered the power I could get from your jewels, I knew I'd be able to purge the world of the evil that took her away from me."

Adrien looked like he was going to be sick. Ladybug grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room before it became too much for him. The little black Kwami followed after them. He placed himself on Adrien's shoulder and put a comforting paw on him.

"Hey, it's okay," she whispered to him. "If you need to leave, I can take care of things here."

He shook his head. "No. No, I'm fine," he said, but he didn't sound fine. He was voice was shaky and his skin was turning an odd shade of ash and green. She put a hand on his cheek and he seemed to calm down. He reached up to hold her hand. His silver ring glinted with the movement.

"Adrien," she said softly. "Please, don't be brave for me. Don't make things harder for yourself."

"I don't think I can leave," he muttered. "Not now, not knowing who he is. He's my father."

"Of course you can leave," she told him. "Do you want to know why? Because that man has never been a father to you, not in the way that you know you deserve. I know that I idolized him for his design talent, but once I saw how he treated you, I realized that was the _only thing_ he had going for him. That man in there has nothing. He deserves nothing. He doesn't deserve _you_. You, Adrien Agreste, deserve a father who will actually protect you and not hurt you. That man doesn't deserve the honor of being called your father."

He looked up at her with sad eyes. She always knew the right thing to say. After a silent moment he nodded.

"Okay," he said after a few moments of silence. "I'll leave. I'll bring the cops here so they can take him in."

She raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure?" she asked worriedly.

He nodded again. " _Oui_. I'll be okay. Cat's honor." He put a hand on his heart and held the other up with his palm facing out. He tried to force a smile but it didn't reach his eyes.

She shook her head at him, but was glad to see him try to make a cat joke. It was better than nothing. She kissed him quickly then headed back inside. She heard Adrien transform then recognized his footsteps as they ran back down the hallway.

When she arrived back in the butterfly atrium, Mr. Agreste was still there. She had tied him up too well for him to escape. She knew that she had Arachna's and Phantom Wolf's mess to clean up, but she would do that once Hawk Moth was in handcuffs.

Cat Noir came back within minutes with the police in tow. He only went as far as the entrance and even then he seemed hesitant to get that close. The police handcuffed Mr. Agreste after Ladybug removed her yoyo string. A large group of officers marched Gabriel Agreste out then another team started examining the crime scene. Ladybug and Cat Noir followed them out where even more officers, the mayor, and about a dozen news stations were waiting for them. All the reporters were trying to get a statement from Mr. Agreste, but he didn't say a word as they put him in the back of the police car.

"Ladybug! Cat Noir!" the reporters were yelling once Mr. Agreste left them with nothing. "Tell us! How'd you know Hawk Moth was Gabriel Agreste?"

The two superheroes were speechless. Cat Noir, normally the first in line for interviews, shied away. The reporters didn't notice anything off though.

"We didn't," Ladybug answered honestly. "We didn't know until we unmasked him. We were just as surprised as everyone else. Now, please. No more questions." She threw her yoyo and pulled herself up onto the nearest rooftop. The Eiffel Tower could be seen in the distance and it was still covered in Arachna's web. She used her Lucky Charm and all that fell was a crumpled piece of paper. She opened it up and saw that it was Adrien's poem she thought he had written for her. She gasped as she read the words again with all this knew knowledge in her mind. He wrote it for Ladybug?

Cat Noir appeared by her side once the lucky charm object fell into her hands. His eyes widened once he recognized the slip of paper she was holding. His cheeks went hot, and he got very self-conscious.

"You were never supposed to see that," he said embarrassedly. He reached for the paper, but she kept it pulling it just out of his reach.

"You wrote this? For me?" she asked when he was done trying to get it from her.

He nodded while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah. It was on Valentine's Day. I wanted to tell you how I felt, but I didn't know how. I thought a poem would do the trick, but I threw it away."

Ladybug closed her eyes as she started to chuckle. This entire time and they were in love with each other. "Someone answered the poem, didn't they?" she asked.

"Yeah. I thought it was Ladybug, but I wasn't sure…" His voice trailed off as he realized what had happened.

She started laughing even harder now. "I thought the poem was for _me_ , well, Marinette. I grabbed it out of the trash and read it because I was curious," Ladybug told him hesitantly, "and because I had a crush on you too." Her eyes suddenly widened. "Which I now realize you know because I told Cat Noir last week. Oh the horror!" She covered her face in her hands as she blushed the deepest red she had ever blushed. He knew all that time! She had never been more embarrassed.

Cat Noir couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. "I can't believe it! This entire time!" he exclaimed.

The two superheroes started laughing at the ridiculousness of their situation. As their laughter subsided they were left with no secrets, and it felt amazing.

Ladybug cast used her Miraculous Ladybug and everything was returned to how it was before. Well, almost everything. Cat Noir left to head home. He knew that the police would be looking for him. Ladybug didn't want to see him leave, especially since he would have to lie about where he had been. She just wanted to be there for him, but there wasn't anything she could do at that moment.

Ladybug headed home and collapsed on her bed seconds before her time ran out. Once she was no longer charged up she felt the events of that day hit her like a semi-truck slamming into her at full speed, but it wasn't over. She still had the butterfly Miraculous. She pulled it out of her pocket and held it lightly in her hands.

"Come on, Tikki. Let's get Nooroo home," she said.

* * *

Marinette was smiling when she walked out of Master Fu's healing room. She remembered the first time she had met him when he healed Tikki. She had wondered why he didn't freak out when she started flying after she was healed, but then on her second visit was when she learned who he really was. It really explained why he wasn't weirded out by Tikki and her odd appearance.

She started tearing up again when she saw how happy Nooroo was to be back home. Tikki didn't let go of Nooroo for a full minute. She was so excited to have him back, as did Wayzz. It was a wonderful moment and marked the end of a difficult time for all of them.

When Marinette walked inside her house her parents were watching the news with wide eyes and open mouths.

"What is it?" she asked, coming to see what had them so surprised.

She froze when she recognized Adrien's house on the screen. It was being lit up intermittently with red and blue as the lights of police cars flashed nearby. There seemed to be the entire police force in front of his house. They were either gathering evidence or trying to keep reporters at bay. She looked for Adrien but she didn't see him. He must've already been taken to the police station.

"Oh, poor Adrien," her mother said with a sigh.

Marinette went to sit down on the couch in between her parents. Her father put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her parents could tell that it was hard for her.

"I knew his father wasn't a good person," Tom said, "but to find out he's Hawk Moth? It's unbelievable."

It really was unbelievable, but that didn't mean it wasn't true. She could only imagine how Adrien felt when he found out, and even then it probably wasn't how he really was feeling.

Marinette knew that Paris would be reeling over that new information for weeks. For months, they had been plagued by akuma villains created by a mysterious villain. There were theories on his identity, but no one would've suspected Gabriel Agreste. That night was one of the few that had left everyone in Paris shocked.

"Have you talked to him?" Sabine asked her daughter.

Marinette looked up in surprise. She had been lost in thought. When her mother's question entered her mind she hesitated. Yes, she had talked to him, but they were the ones who unmasked Hawk Moth. She knew she had to lie to them, but it was difficult, especially for a lie that big.

Marinette shook her head. "No. I haven't," she said quietly.

"Do you think he had an idea of who his father was?" Marinette's mother asked warily. It was a question she didn't want to asked, but it had to be said.

"No!" Marinette said immediately. "There's no way he knew. He would never—" She clamped her lips together when she realized that she was about to say something revealing him to be Cat Noir. "There's no way Adrien would know who his father really was. I'm sure he's devastated."

Her parents looked back to the television solemnly. Marinette was sure the rest of Paris was the same. Gabriel Agreste was a well-known name in their city. He wasn't known for being the kindest man, but he was well-respected. He had one of the most famous fashion lines in the world. People were going to have a difficult time believing Gabriel Agreste was Hawk Moth, and even more people were going to have a hard time believing that Adrien didn't know a single thing.

"Does he have any other family?" her father asked.

Marinette shook her head. "Not that I know of," she said slowly. She tried to remember all her conversations with Adrien and with Cat Noir, and he always talked about his father. Never once did he mention an aunt or uncle or a cousin or even grandparents. He was either very private about his family, or he just didn't have any.

Her parents shared a look, then Tom stood up to get his keys. "Come on, Marinette. We're going to go see him."

"We are?" Marinette asked, slightly surprised.

Sabine nodded. "Yes. Adrien is going to need you right now. No one should have to go through what's happening to him, but if someone is they shouldn't be alone. But we also want to go there for another reason."

"What is that?"

"If he truly doesn't have any family," her father said, "then we can't let him be put into foster care."

Marinette looked at the two of them curiously. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? The idea had never even occurred to Marinette! Granted her mind has been focused on other things lately. Her parents were willing to take him in? It seemed so alien to her, but it made sense. Her parents loved and cared for Adrien a lot despite only knowing him for a short a while.

Wasting no time, Marinette and her parents headed straight for the police station. It was surprisingly not as chaotic as she thought it would be. She recognized a few faces of the officers, mainly from all her interactions with them as Ladybug. She looked around for Adrien but she had trouble spotting him. Her parents went to go find someone to talk to. Marinette went with them, still keeping an eye out for her boyfriend.

* * *

Adrien landed just around the corner of his house before transforming back. He pressed his back against the stone wall of the building steeling himself for what was to come. He clenched his fists as he thought about his father. All he wanted to do was collapse on his bed and sleep long enough and deep enough that he could be mistaken for being in a coma.

Taking in a deep breath, Adrien turned the corner and feigned surprise at all the cops and reporters in front of his house. He ran up to the first officer he recognized, Sabrina's father. Lieutenant Roger pulled him aside and gently explained what had happened. Adrien was surprisingly good at faking his shock. He knew he was a good actor, but that surprised even him.

The police brought him to the station to answer a few questions with a lawyer of course. Adrien answered all of them as honestly as he could, but it was difficult, especially since they started asking him all the same questions over and over again. He knew what they were doing, but it wasn't going to work. They were trying to get him to slip-up and accidentally give them a different detail in his story. The officers were trying to get him to get caught in his lie. They finally gave up when the police realized he wasn't going to say anything he hadn't already said.

Adrien asked to go home, but the officers wouldn't let him. His house was currently a crime scene and no one besides the police could enter the property. He was stuck at the police station. He didn't have any family in the country. He had an aunt, his mother's sister, but she lived in America. The police had called her, but it was going to be at least a day before she would get there. Lieutenant Roger allowed him to sit at his desk while they figured out what to do.

Adrien had been sitting at that desk for over an hour playing with a pencil when Plagg started wiggling in his shirt. Adrien sighed then opened his shirt a bit to let the Kwami out.

"You do realize we're in the middle of a police station, don't you?" Adrien asked in a hushed whisper. He nervously glanced around but no one was looking their way.

"I know, but Tikki's here! And that means so is Marinette!"

Adrien wondered for a moment who Tikki was, but then he looked up when Plagg said Marinette. He looked up and saw her with her parents talking with Lieutenant Roger. Marinette sensed someone looking at her and saw Adrien staring at them from across the station. She waved then said something to Sabrina's dad. He nodded and she rushed over to Adrien.

Marinette hugged him as soon as she was close enough. He hugged her back tightly. He nestled his head into her neck and breathed her in. She smelled like bread and flowers. It was exactly how his lady smelled. He was so stupid for not making the connection immediately. He fell for the same girl without even knowing it. He had struggled with his love for Ladybug and his love for Marinette, but he never had to struggle again. His lady and his princess. The one and only.

"Plagg!" A tiny voice said from beside them.

Marinette and Adrien broke apart to see Tikki fly out of the bag and embrace him. Adrien was surprised to see Plagg willingly hug the ladybug Kwami. He rarely ever showed Adrien that sort of affection.

"I wonder how long it's been since they've seen each other," Marinette wondered.

"Eh. Only a few days," Plagg said casually.

"What?" Marinette and Adrien exclaimed at the same time.

"You guys knew?" Adrien asked. "How could you not tell us?"

"Kwamis aren't allowed to reveal a Miraculous Holder's identity," Tikki said softly. "You two had to find out for yourself."

"How long have you known?" Marinette asked.

"Since the dance," Plagg answered.

"Wait, were you in the jacket when I got water dumped on me?"

Plagg nodded. "Oh yeah."

"He complained about it for hours," Adrien groaned. "And he hasn't stopped."

"That's not complaining!" Plagg defended. "I'd like to call it reasons why I should eat cheese."

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Is he like this all the time?" she asked.

"He's usually worse," Adrien said with a fake smile. "Not to mention he thinks he's cute, which makes for a giant ego."

Marinette chuckled. That reminded her of someone. "I think he's cute," she said.

"And what am I? Cat liver?" Adrien asked with a grin she had become all too familiar with.

Marinette rolled her eyes, but she had to smile. "I'm going to have to live with these jokes all the time now, aren't I?"

"Cat-solutely!"

She lightly nudged him but then pulled him down by his collar to kiss him passionately.

They kissed until someone walked by while very loudly clearing their throat. Marinette blushed and chuckled but she wasn't as speechless as she was the first time she had kissed him. Finding out he was Cat Noir really changed something inside of her. She was seeing him for the first time all over again. He was new and familiar at the same time. It was a combination she never thought possible.

"So, my parents are trying to convince the police to take you home with us," Marinette said. "You know, for a few days or maybe longer."

Adrien smiled when he realized what she was saying, but he knew that wouldn't be necessary. "I have an aunt flying in from America, but she's not getting here for at least a day."

"Are you moving away?" Marinette asked worriedly. "You do realize that is not an option, right? Even if I have to drag you off of the plane myself you are not leaving this city."

Adrien chuckled. "I know, but she would never do that. She's my mom's sister. I haven't seen her since she died, but I remember my aunt as being pretty awesome."

Marinette smiled. "And you are sure she won't take you away from me?"

Adrien leaned down and kissed her. "I'm sure," he said when he pulled away.

Plagg made some disgusted sounds next to them. Tikki gently pushed her best friend for making fun of them, but she was just happy that everything had worked out. Nooroo was no longer being forced to serve an evil master and Marinette and Adrien were together with no secrets left between them.

Tikki smiled up at the two superheroes. She had seen so many Cat Noirs and Ladybugs over the millennia. Not all of them were in love, but many of them were. The only constant was that there couldn't be one without the other. Good luck and bad luck. Creation and destruction. Sun and moon. Tikki had never seen such a perfect pairing in all of history. Adrien and Marinette were made for each other. The Ladybug and the Black Cat were reunited once again.


	12. Epilogue

*Surprise! I hope you all enjoy this extra short chapter I wrote! It's the epilogue of the story and it's just some cuteness I thought you guys would enjoy. FYI, there's a little twist at the end. All of you guys have been awesome and I wrote this for you!

 **Epilogue**

Marinette stood underneath a shady tree with the basket for their picnic being held in her hands. Inside she had packed the cinnamon swirl rolls that Adrien loved, some apples and grapes, a variety of cheeses including the camembert for Plagg, cookies for Tikki, and some freshly baked croissants courtesy of her father. Marinette was glad that she and Adrien were spending a quiet day together. She hoped that it would help him get past the fact that Hawk Moth was his father. He had been putting on a brave face but she knew him too well. When he thought no one else was looking she would catch his expression. He was not doing well. She had been trying to get him to talk to anyone but he was a closed book. Marinette hoped that having a quiet day out in the park would make him feel better.

Suddenly Marinette felt arms go around her waist and felt a pair of soft lips on her cheek. She blushed and turned around in Adrien's arms after setting the basket on the ground.

" _Bonjour_ , Princess," he said softly. He bent down and lightly kissed Marinette on the lips.

" _Bonjour_ ," she said when he pulled away. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing well," he said with a slight shrug. Marinette raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," he said a little exasperatedly. "When will you stop asking me this?"

"When I'm sure that your answer is actually the truth," Marinette told him while crossing her arms.

He sighed. "Marinette, I am fine. I am doing well. I have gotten past the fact my father is Hawk Moth."

"You're a terrible liar, kitty," Marinette told him.

He rubbed the back of his head as he grimaced. "Look, Marinette, I just don't want to talk about it. I've been dealing with it on my own just like I have been doing for years."

She reached up and brushed back a golden lock of his hair. "You don't have to deal with it alone anymore, Adrien," she said softly. "You have so many people around you who care about you and who love you. You don't have to do this alone."

"It's hard to remember that sometimes," he murmured with a small smile.

"Will you promise me that you'll talk about this with someone?" Marinette asked. "It doesn't have to be me, but just talk with someone."

"I promise," he said.

"Good. Now where do you want to sit?"

"The fountain," he said immediately.

She shook her head slightly. He always chose the sunlight when given the option. She wasn't sure if he knew of it himself but he always gravitated towards sunlight. When they hung out in her room he would move to stand or sit in a patch of sun. It took her a couple of weeks to pick up on it, but it certainly made her smile. Even without the cat ears and tail he had some vague cat-like qualities. It was very endearing.

Adrien chose a spot on the back side of the fountain. He laid out the blanket and together they both took a seat and started unpacking the basket. They left the camembert and cookies in the basket so their Kwamis could enjoy the food without accidentally being found out.

Marinette and Adrien didn't talk much as they ate. Never once did they feel the need to fill the silence with mindless chatter. They did talk some, but all in all they were just enjoying being near each other. Besides, their Kwamis made up for the lack of conversation. Adrien and Marinette could hear them talking nonstop from the picnic basket. The superheroes shared a glance every so often. Those two had been separated for decades so it wasn't a surprise that they would want to catch up.

After an hour Marinette had started reading a book Adrien had recommended to her. She wasn't really into reading but he was. He had nothing else to do as a kid, so she figured she'd try to see what it all was about. She was really enjoying the novel so far. It had magic and quests and humor, and it was pretty exciting.

She was leaning against the stone of the fountain which was surprisingly comfortable. Marinette had her legs stretched out in front of her, and Adrien had moved so that his head was in her lap with the rest of him stretched out. He had his eyes closed and was just enjoying the sunlight. He was breathing so deeply that she thought he had fallen asleep.

Absentmindedly she reached down and lightly started brushing his hair with her fingers. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Adrien smile slightly. She kept brushing his hair as she read. She was so into the book that she didn't notice a familiar sound near her. She stopped reading and realized that the sound was a purr. She looked down at Adrien and bit back a chuckle as she realized he was the one that was purring. He opened his eyes and immediately his cheeks went read. He sat up and covered his mouth with his hand as his eyes went as wide as saucers. He was mortified.

"Did you…," Marinette said. She was still trying to hold back giggles, but it was getting hard. His expression was priceless.

"Did you just purr?" she finally asked, allowing a few giggles to burst out.

"No!" he exclaimed, his cheeks going even redder.

"You did!" she said. "I didn't know you purred!" She found that quite amusing actually. He could actually purr! She knew he had inherited some feline mannerisms, but she didn't know they went that far.

He let his head fall into his hands with a groan. He was so embarrassed, but she found it adorable!

"Adrien, please look at me," Marinette said. "Come on, kitty kitty kitty."

He looked up at her with a glare. "You're not funny," he told her in a flat voice.

She shrugged. "I got you to look at me," she said, still smiling widely.

Adrien put his head in his hands again, still completely mortified. "Still not funny."

"Oh come on. I'm hilarious," she joked, still chuckling. When he didn't lift his head her laughter started to fade. "Adrien, I'm sorry. I won't joke about it again."

When he looked up, his cheeks were the reddest she had ever seen them. Almost his entire face was red. She bit her lip to keep herself from laughing again. She had never seen Adrien so mortified. To be honest, she never thought it would be possible.

She reached across and grasped his hand tightly. "Please don't be embarrassed. It's actually really cute, Adrien," Marinette said reassuringly.

"That's easy for you to say," he said.

"Doesn't matter. Still doesn't change the fact it's adorable."

He gave her a look. "Does this mean you're going to get me to purr every chance you get?"

Marinette shrugged. "Maybe," she said with a proud smile.

He rolled his eyes at her, but he was smiling too. Adrien leaned across the blanket so he could kiss her, all his embarrassment gone. Marinette moved so she could kiss him more easily, but she lost her balance and fell back onto the blanket. That caused Adrien to fall on top of her, then they both started to giggle. He kissed her again. She reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. His skin was still warm from the blush.

The young couple didn't notice the woman staring on at them. How could they? She was standing behind the wrought-iron fence, hidden in the shadows. She looked normal, relatively unassuming, except for her eyes. Most people averted their eyes as they walked past, or if they did notice they brushed it off as their imagination. They knew it wasn't possible for someone's eyes to glow! It had to be something their minds made up.

The woman smiled as she looked on at the current owners of the ladybug and black cat Miraculouses. She had known many of their owners over the past centuries, all of them different, but those two were the most perfect she had ever seen. Never before had such a flawless pairing been chosen for the miraculous of the black cat and ladybug. She gave them one last look before walking down the road. Once she reached the corner she disappeared in a flash of blue light.


End file.
